Food Facts for Kids
Tasty facts about the food we eat
Eating spicy food causes your brain to release endorphins — the same natural painkillers released during exercise. This is why some people feel a sense of pleasure or even euphoria after eating very spicy food.
Rhubarb stalks are perfectly safe to eat, but the leaves are poisonous. They contain high levels of oxalic acid, which can cause serious kidney damage and even death if consumed in large quantities.
Chia seeds can absorb up to 12 times their own weight in water, forming a thick gel. Aztec and Mayan warriors reportedly ate them for sustained energy on long marches.
Quorn, the popular meat substitute, is made from a naturally occurring fungus called Fusarium venenatum. It was discovered in the 1960s during a worldwide search for new protein sources.
Cornflakes were accidentally invented in 1894 by Dr John Harvey Kellogg at a sanitarium in Michigan when boiled wheat was left out and went stale. He and his brother decided to roll it flat and bake it.
Marmite is made from the leftover yeast extract from beer brewing. It was originally a waste product of breweries until a German scientist discovered it could be concentrated into a nutritious food paste.
Gold leaf used to decorate luxury food is completely tasteless and passes through your body without being absorbed. It is biologically inert, which means it has no nutritional value whatsoever.
About 80% of what we think of as flavour actually comes from smell, not taste. This is why food tastes bland when you have a blocked nose — your taste buds can only detect sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami.
Edamame are simply immature soybeans harvested before they harden. The same bean left to mature and dry becomes the soybean used to make tofu, soy sauce, and soy milk.
Britain's love of tea was introduced by a Portuguese princess. When Catherine of Braganza married King Charles II in 1662, she brought tea-drinking habits from Portugal, and it quickly became fashionable at court.