Food myths and hoaxes found a way to worm into our collective memories. Some myths were born out of propaganda, while some are just simply scientific errors or internet hoaxes. They’re called urban legends in the culinary world for a reason! Today, let us remember 8 of the most enduring urban legends we have encountered. Get ready to unlearn some of these things as we’re on a mission to debunk what you think is real.
8. Twinkies Last Forever
We’ve all heard the joke: in the event of an apocalypse, the only things left will be cockroaches and Twinkies. The urban legend that these sponge cakes have an infinite shelf life is false. The myth seems to have started as a joke by comedian Jay Leno in the 1990s and has been repeated so often that it’s become a “fact.” In reality, Twinkies have a shelf life of about 45 days, extended from the original 26 days. Better throw out those Twinkies you saved for three years!
7. Turkey Makes You Sleepy
Every Thanksgiving, the turkey gets the blame from everyone, who feel like they’re about to doze off any minute. The myth that the tryptophan in turkey is a natural sedative has become a holiday staple. While tryptophan is an amino acid that can have a calming effect, turkey doesn’t have the ability to sedate you. The real reason for your Thanksgiving nap is more likely the amount of carbohydrates you consumed and that you’re relaxed and off from work.
6. Popeye’s Spinach Is Packed With Iron
Thank you, Popeye the Sailor Man, for the information that spinach is packed with iron. His love for spinach, which gave him superhuman strength, was based on a simple mathematical error. During the 1870s, a German scientist misplaced a decimal point in his research, making it seem like spinach had ten times more iron than it actually does. It was so powerful that it’s credited with increasing spinach consumption in the U.S. by 33%.
5. Coca-Cola’s Secret Ingredient
We’ve all heard about elders telling us that Coca-Cola is made of an illegal substance, hence its nickname as “Coke.” In 1886, the brand was marketed as a “brain tonic” that cures headaches as it contains kola nuts and a dangerous substance that was legal during that time. However, the dangers of that certain substance became well-known, so they were forced to remove it from the recipe in 1903.
4. Carrots Can Give You Night Vision
The belief that eating carrots will give you exceptional night vision is a myth that dates back to World War II. It was a piece of propaganda to cover up a secret radar technology. The British government started a rumor that pilots were eating carrots to gain superhuman night vision for their success in pinning down their opponents’ planes. It’s true that carrots are a source of vitamin A for eye health, but they won’t give you night vision.
3. The Five-Second Rule
We’ve all done it: You drop a piece of food on the floor and quickly pick it up, declaring, “Five-second rule!” The idea that food is safe to eat if it’s only been on the floor for a few seconds is a widely accepted piece of folk wisdom, but it’s also a complete myth. Multiple studies have shown that bacteria transfer from the floor to your food is fast. The bacteria won’t count to five just to infiltrate your food.
2. The Flesh-Eating Banana Hoax
In the early days of the internet, a terrifying email hoax went viral. It warned people that bananas from Costa Rica were infected with a flesh-eating bacterium called necrotizing fasciitis. The email, which claimed to be from the “Manheim Research Institute,” was so convincing that it caused a nationwide panic. The hoax was completely false, of course. There was no Manheim Research Institute, and there was no outbreak of flesh-eating bacteria in Costa Rica.
1. McDonald’s “Pink Slime”
The infamous “pink slime” photo is one of the most disgusting food urban legends of all time. The image, which shows a pink, paste-like substance, went viral with the claim that it was the secret ingredient in McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets. The truth is, the photo is not of chicken at all, but of a mechanically separated meat product that was never used in McNuggets. The “pink slime” in the photo is actually a beef product that was used in some of McDonald’s burgers, but the company stopped using it in 2011.