Throughout history, not every powerful force came from the battlefield, as some simply came from the food on your plate today. From ancient grains to the modern processed foods we have today, these foods stretch far beyond family tables. Today, we’re bringing you 10 untold stories about how your favorite foods changed the world forever.
10. Ultra-Processed Foods
For starters, here’s an interesting fact: The quest for convenient foods also reshapes our biology. If you wonder why many people need braces, a study suggests that the modern diet of ultra-processed foods is changing our faces. A Spanish pilot study found that children raised on liquid-based diets have smaller gaps between their teeth. With this, scientists linked smaller jawbones to the way we speak.
9. Ice Cream Cones
You can never have ice cream without the classic cone, but did you know that it was just a happy accident? During the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, ice cream vendor Charles E. Menches ran out of dishes. Meanwhile, his stall neighbour, Ernest A. Hamwi, sells zalabia, which is a Syrian pastry of crispy wafers. Hamwi rolled his pastry into a cone shape and handed it to Menches. It became an instant hit, and the rest is history.
8. Chicken Tikka Masala
The UK’s well-loved Chicken Tikka Masala was reportedly invented in the 1970s at a Glasgow curry house after a customer complaint. It was Ali Ahmed Aslam, founder of the Shish Mahal restaurant, who claimed that a customer sent back the dish, saying it was too dry. Aslam created a sauce with a can of tomato soup, yogurt, and a blend of spices. It became a massive success that it was declared to be British’s national dish in 2012.
7. Breakfast Cereal
The breakfast cereals that we know of have a surprisingly bland origin. In 1863, Dr. James C. Jackson created “Granula,” which is a tough cereal meant to soak overnight. By 1865, Jon Kellogg launched Corn Flakes as a bland food to promote the “pure” lifestyle. However, they unknowingly sparked a breakfast favorite that led to the likes of Rice Krispies in 1928. Eventually, they followed through with more sugary cereals.
6. Avocado
Avocado has a darker side than we’ve imagined. The innocent toast topper is actually called green gold in Mexico, which is the world’s largest producer. With that, they drew dangerous attention that armed guards are hired to protect the avocados from thieves and cartels who moved into the avocado trade. Who would’ve thought that this innocent fruit that’s a favorite flavor to many has a dangerous side?
5. Sugar
Sugar’s history is far from sweet. It actually drove the transatlantic slave trade, where power was abused to cultivate “white gold” that fueled European empires. During the 20th century, the German sugar-beet industry used it to create something that was adapted as a gas used for death chambers. In modern times, science revealed that a 15-million-year-old genetic mutation makes our bodies convert sugar into fat. It’s been a driver ti the modern obesity crisis.
4. Spices
The discovery of exotic flavors like cinnamon and pepper literally blew the world. The spice trade was established over 4,000 years ago and was the world’s earliest form of market. The profits earned fueled the Age of Discovery. Meanwhile, the Roman Empire’s trade in spices was so extensive that it is considered the birthplace of globalization. These ancient trade routes transported more than just goods, as they also exchanged ideas and culture.
3. Salt
Over 2,000 years ago, the Roman author Pliny the Elder declared that “without salt, one cannot have a civilized life,” and he wasn’t wrong. Before refrigeration, salt was the key to food preservation. It was so valuable that it was one of the most important trade commodities in the ancient world, with entire cities and economies built around its production. That’s how much we depend on salt!
2. Potatoes
It’s hard to imagine a world without French fries or mashed potatoes, but for most, the potato was unknown outside of the Andes. First cultivated 10,000 years ago from a poisonous ancestor of the nightshade plant, the potato was brought to Europe in the 1500s and quickly became a global staple. Its ability to grow in poor soil and provide immense nutritional value allowed populations to boom and fueled the rise of industrial Europe.
1. Cereals
The rise of civilization wasn’t just about growing food; it was about growing the right kind. While root crops like yams and potatoes could feed a population, they couldn’t be easily stored or controlled by a ruling class. This new hypothesis suggests that the Fertile Crescent became the “cradle of civilization” precisely because it was rich in wild cereals. It was the grain, not just the green, that allowed for the rise of taxes, trade, and the world’s first great empires. That’s the cereal for you.