Food

Why Are Whole Foods Typically More Expensive Than Processed?

Close perusal of a Wonder loaf’s list of ingredients reveals some 29 tongue-tying components, while the whole grain loaf has five or six, none over two syllables. So why are more heavily processed foods and those with more ingredients typically less expensive than whole foods?... READ ON

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What's the Difference Between Table Salt and Kosher Salt?

In truth, not much. The primary ingredient to both, not surprisingly, is sodium chloride. In fact, the U.S. government requires that any food-grade salt be a minimum of 97.5 percent pure, so any type of salt you consume in the U.S. (and most developed countries) is going to be almost exactly the same as any other type of salt in terms of what it is made up of.... READ ON

Food

That Other Time Someone Tried to Get the British to Eat Horses

There’s an ongoing problem in the UK and continental Europe where food products labeled as containing beef actually turn out to have surprise horse meat in it. If history had played out a little differently, this wouldn’t be a scandal, and Brits eating horse meat would be about as newsworthy as Americans eating cheeseburgers. ... READ ON

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Why Did Eating Horsemeat Become Taboo?

Despite the notion of horses as pets and companions, horsemeat is widely and willingly consumed in countries ranging from Mexico to China to Italy. So how, exactly, did eating horsemeat become taboo for the rest of us?... READ ON

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How Was the Top-Secret Coke Formula Determined to Be Kosher?

Few products in civilized history can match the mythology and ubiquity of Coca-Cola. In the 1930s, Coke’s inscrutability found itself at odds with a niche, but rapidly growing consumer base: Orthodox Jewish immigrants whose dietary restrictions prevented them from consuming anything that didn’t meet rigid rabbinical guidelines. How was Coke ultimately kashered while keeping its prized formula a secret? ... READ ON

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Why Do Diet Coke and Mentos React?

Combine Diet Coke and Mentos, and the result is explosive—Diet Coke shoots out of the bottle like a miniature, sticky Old Faithful. The reaction is so intense, you can make a rocket propelled by the resulting geyser. But what's the science behind this reaction?... READ ON

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Will a Nightcap Really Help You Sleep Better?

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Why Is a Baker's Dozen 13?

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Does Drinking Alcohol Really Keep You Warm When It's Cold Out?

Daven Hiskey runs the wildly popular interesting fact website Today I Found Out. To subscribe to his “Daily Knowledge” newsletter, click... READ ON

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Why Does Popcorn Pop?

First off, popcorn isn’t just any old corn. It’s a cultivated strain of flint corn known as zea mays everta. Its kernel is also a whole grain—it consists of the bran (the hull or outer covering), the germ (the “embryo” that germinates into a plant), and the endosperm (the starch that provides nutrition for the germ).Inside the protective hull, each popcorn kernel is mostly some soft, starchy endosperm and a small amount of water. All three of those things help make popcorn pop the way it... READ ON