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A little sweet, a little sour — citrus fruits brighten up any meal, from breakfast to happy hour cocktails. Evolving over the course of 25 million years from just a few citrus species, today’s selection of grapefruits, oranges, lemons, and more has been eons in the making. These eight juicy facts about citrus may just give you a deeper appreciation for these pulp-packed fruits.

Many Citrus Fruits Are Sold in Red Bags For a Reason

Citrus growers often bundle together bunches of oranges in mesh bags, which you may have noticed are made from red plastic. It’s no coincidence; red bags against orange peels create an optical illusion that makes the fruit appear more vibrantly hued and enticing. The trick works for other citrus — like mandarins, clementines, tangerines, and even some grapefruit — though not all. Yellow citrus, like lemons, are often sold in yellow or green bags to create a similar color-popping effect.

Most Citrus Fruits Are Hybrids

Many researchers believe that all citrus fruit can be traced back to just three species: pomelos, citrons, and mandarins. Citrus trees of different species are reproductively compatible with one another; over time, cross-breeding between these “ancestor fruits” created the hybrids known as grapefruits, oranges, lemons, limes, and other citrus varieties enjoyed today.

Orange Peels Are Packed With Vitamin C

Oranges are a go-to food for many when battling a cold, thanks to the fact that they’re packed with vitamin C — though some research suggests that the nutrient doesn’t actually prevent colds, and may only slightly cut short how long a cold lasts. Another hitch in eating oranges to help illnesses is that much of the fruit’s vitamin C is found in its peel. Just one tablespoon of the outer rind contains 14% of the recommended daily dose of vitamin C, which is about three times more than what’s found in the inner flesh.

British Sailors Got Their Nickname From Limes

Regardless of the flag they were working under, nearly all sailors of the past shared a common enemy: scurvy. The disease, caused by a vitamin C deficiency, plagued sailors who were unable to regularly consume fresh fruits and vegetables while out at sea. The British Royal Navy began supplying its sailors with lemons and lime juice in 1795, though not all countries picked up on the practice. During the War of 1812, skeptical American sailors nicknamed their British counterparts “limeys” to mock the practice — though the U.S. Navy eventually started doing it too.

The Largest Citrus Fruit Can Reach Basketball Size

Pomelos are grapefruit-like citrus native to Southeast Asia, known for their yellow rinds and pink inner flesh — not to mention their size. The jumbo citrus fruits can grow up to the size of a basketball and weigh as much as 22 pounds. In comparison, kumquats are the smallest known citrus, maturing at a max length of around 2 inches. (Kumquats are also the only citrus fruit you can easily eat without peeling.)

Clementines and Mandarins Are Technically Different Fruits

What’s small, orange, and easy to peel? Both clementines and mandarins, which explains why these two nearly identical citrus fruits are often confused. However, botanists say there is a difference. Clementines are an offshoot variety of mandarins, created by crossing mandarins and sweet oranges. That means all clementines are technically a type of mandarin, though all mandarins are not clementines.

Grapefruit Can Interfere With Some Medications

Grapefruits are packed with vitamins and fiber that support heart and gut health, though people who rely on some medications are often warned away from consuming the fruits. That’s because grapefruit juice can affect how medications work. Some drugs, like those for cholesterol and high blood pressure, are metabolized in the body by the CYP3A4 enzyme found in the small intestine. Grapefruit juice can block that enzyme, which stops the medication from breaking down and causes too much to enter the bloodstream. Other drugs, like fexofenadine (Allegra) for allergies, use proteins called transporters to enter cells in the body; grapefruit juice can block this process and cause too little of the drug to circulate, rendering it ineffective.

Oranges Were Once A Luxurious Christmas Gift

Oranges are relatively inexpensive today, though 19th-century Europeans who woke to find them in their stockings on Christmas morning considered the fruits a grand gift. The tradition of receiving an orange as a holiday present dates to the 1800s, when Christmas revelers widely began hanging stockings on the mantle, and is commonly linked to the tale of St. Nicholas of Myra, a fourth-century bishop who reportedly tossed bags of gold into the drying stockings of poor maidens. Oranges — which were generally a rare and expensive fruit in Victorian times — represented St. Nicholas’ gifted gold, and became linked with the holiday.

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It’s easy to lose track of items in the back of a dark pantry, which is why expiration dates can be so helpful in determining when to toss old foods. However, the “best by” dates we rely on aren’t always a true picture of how long a food is shelf-stable. Food dating is mostly a voluntary process for grocery manufacturers, who often just estimate when their products will no longer be at their best quality. Luckily, there are some foods — like the six listed below — that are safe to keep using even if their expiration date has long passed.

Vinegar

Most foods produce a noxious smell when they’ve spoiled, but vinegar always smells pretty potent, so it may be hard to use the old-fashioned sniff test to guess at its quality. Luckily, you don’t have to, since vinegar doesn’t expire. Vinegar is a fermented product, created when yeast consume sugars or starches to create alcohol; that byproduct is then exposed to oxygen and a bacteria called Acetobacter, which continues fermenting to create the final acidic product. That acidity actually makes vinegar self-preserving, which is why it generally doesn’t need to be refrigerated. Over time, vinegar can become hazy or develop sediment, particularly a gelatinous substance called “mother,” though that doesn’t mean you need to toss it — in fact, vinegar mothers (aka a colony of healthy bacteria that forms in fermented liquids) can even be used to create a new batch of the multipurpose solution.

White Rice

Comedian Mitch Hedberg once joked that rice is the perfect meal if you’re “really hungry and want to eat 2,000 of something.” It’s also a great food for long-term storage. White rice — which starts as brown rice but is milled to remove its exterior husk, bran, and germ — keeps best, so long as it’s properly stored away from moisture and pets. At temperatures under 40 degrees Fahrenheit, white rice’s life span pushes upwards of 25 to 30 years, but even when stored at warmer temperatures, it can last up to 10 years if packed with oxygen absorbers. However, not all rice keeps long-term; opened bags should be used within two years, and brown rice lasts about six months at room-temperature storage because of its naturally occurring oils, which can go rancid.

Sugar

Sugar has a particularly sweet characteristic: It doesn’t really go “bad.” Granulated sugars (along with some syrups, like corn syrup) are so inhospitable for bacteria that they’re often the primary ingredient used to preserve jellies, jams, and canned fruits. However, like all long-stored pantry staples, helping sugar maintain a long shelf-life means keeping it away from any source of condensation or moisture, which is easily absorbed and can leave behind a hardened block. Even with its ability to last indefinitely, food storage experts say sugar is best consumed within two years of opening — just another reason to mix up a batch of fresh cookies.

Salt

Vegetable, animal, or mineral? Salt falls in the latter category, which is one reason it can enjoy an indefinite stay in your pantry without spoiling. Salt has been used to preserve foods (especially meats) for centuries because it’s so effective at inhibiting bacteria; the mineral is able to break down enzymes that help germs grow while also dehydrating food and removing water that bacteria needs to thrive. Its ability to repel water keeps salt unlimitedly useful, though there are some kinds of processed salt that are more likely to deteriorate in quality over time — specifically those with additives such as iodine or anti-caking agents (these kinds are best used in under five years). As for plain salt — it can last forever, especially if kept in a cool, dry place.

Vanilla Extract

Pure vanilla extract can be a grocery store splurge, but if your oven is known for taking a hiatus between bursts of baking, it could be worth the extra cost. That’s because real vanilla extract doesn’t spoil thanks to its high alcohol content — over time, it can actually develop a deeper flavor. Imitation vanilla extract, however, has a drastically shorter shelf-life. While real vanilla is created by soaking vanilla beans in alcohol (which acts as a preservative), the flavoring dupe is made from vanillin, a manufactured substance that replicates the sweet and syrupy flavor. On the shelf, imitation vanilla lasts just six to 12 months before beginning to degrade and losing its flavor.

Honey

Humans have risked bee swarms for thousands of years in the hopes of collecting a little honey. Beyond its use in cooking, the substance has also been used for healing wounds and even as a natural preservative — because the insect-produced food is one of the few that rarely expires. Honey’s indefinite shelf-life is thanks to its sugar-dense composition, with less than 20% of its makeup coming from water. The nectar also has two other preserving factors: It has an acidic pH level that is unsuitable for bacteria, and its viscous state creates an oxygen barrier that prevents pathogens from growing. However, there is a catch: To maintain these properties, honey must be stored in a sealed container safe from humid conditions. Even then, the USDA suggests honey is at its best when consumed within a year.

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Most of us probably just enjoy our food without thinking too deeply about it. But the world of culinary delights holds many mysteries. What’s the secret history of the bagel? What does “continental breakfast” really mean? Which nut has been known to explode during transport, and which favored breakfast item is slightly radioactive? And finally, what’s the difference between sweet potatoes and regular potatoes? The following 25 facts will give you plenty of fodder for your next dinner party.

Green Bell Peppers Are Just Unripe Red Bell Peppers

If you’ve ever found yourself in the grocery store struggling to decide between red and green bell peppers, you may be interested to learn that they’re the very same vegetable. In fact, green bell peppers are just red bell peppers that haven’t ripened yet, while orange and yellow peppers are somewhere in between the two stages. As they ripen, bell peppers don’t just change color — they also become sweeter and drastically increase their beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin C content. So while the green variety isn’t quite as nutritious as its red counterpart, the good news is that one eventually becomes the other.

Pistachios Can Spontaneously Combust

It turns out there’s a price to pay for how tasty and nutritious pistachios are: Under the right circumstances, they can spontaneously combust. Everyone’s favorite shelled nut is especially rich in fat, which is highly flammable. Thankfully, that only becomes a problem when pistachios are packed too tightly during shipping or storage. It’s important to keep the nuts dry lest they become moldy — but if they’re kept too dry and there are too many of them bunched together, they can self-heat and catch fire without an external heat source.

Though exceedingly rare and easy to avoid if the proper instructions are followed, pistachio self-combustion is a real enough concern that the German Transport Information Service specifically advises that pistachios “not be stowed together with fibers/fibrous materials as oil-soaked fibers may promote self-heating/spontaneous combustion of the cargo.” Don’t worry, though: It won’t happen in your pantry with just a few bags, so you can indulge in the shelled snack without worrying about their flavor becoming unexpectedly smoky.

Philadelphia Cream Cheese Isn’t Actually From Philadelphia

The City of Brotherly Love has clear-cut claims on many food origins — cheesesteaks, stromboli, and even root beer. But despite the name, Philadelphia Cream Cheese is definitely not from Philly. The iconic dairy brand secured its misleading name (and gold-standard status) thanks to a marketing ploy that’s been working for more than 150 years … and it’s all because of Pennsylvania’s reputation for impeccable dairy. Small Pennsylvania dairies of the 18th and early 19th centuries were known for using full-fat milk and cream to make rich cheeses — in contrast to New York dairies, which mostly used skim milk — and because the perishables couldn’t be easily transported, they gained a reputation as expensive luxury foods. So when upstate New York entrepreneur William Lawrence began making his skim milk and (for richness) lard-based cream cheese in the 1870s, he needed a name that would entice customers and convey quality despite it being made in Chester, New York, and not Philadelphia. Together with cheese broker and marketing mastermind Alvah Reynolds, Lawrence branded his cheese under the Philadelphia name in 1880, which boosted sales and promoted its popularity with home cooks well into the early 1900s.

Bagels Were Once Given as Gifts to Women After Childbirth

After a woman has had a bun in the oven for nine months, presenting her with a bagel might seem like a strange choice. But some of the earliest writings on bagels relate to the idea of giving them as gifts to women after labor. Many historians believe that bagels were invented in the Jewish community of Krakow, Poland, during the early 17th century. Their circular shape echoes the round challah bread eaten on the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah. Enjoying round challahs is meant to bring good luck, expressing the hope that endless blessings — goodness without end — will arrive in the coming year. Likewise, in Krakow centuries ago, a bagel signified the circle of life and longevity for the child. In addition to the symbolism of the round shape, the bread was believed to bring a pregnant woman or midwife good fortune in a delivery by casting aside evil spirits. Some pregnant women even wore bagels on necklaces as protection, or ensured bagels were present in the room where they gave birth.

The Word for a Single Spaghetti Noodle Is “Spaghetto”

If you go into an Italian restaurant and order spaghetto, chances are you’ll leave hungry. That’s because “spaghetto” refers to just a lone pasta strand; it’s the singular form of the plural “spaghetti.” Other beloved Italian foods share this same grammatical distinction — one cannoli is actually a “cannolo,” and it’s a single cheese-filled “raviolo” or “panino” sandwich. Though this may seem strange given that these plural terms are so ingrained in the English lexicon, Italian language rules state that a word ending in -i means it’s plural, whereas an -o or -a suffix (depending on whether it’s a masculine or feminine term) denotes singularity. (Similarly, “paparazzo” is the singular form of the plural “paparazzi.”) As for the term for the beloved pasta dish itself, “spaghetti” was inspired by the Italian word “spago,” which means “twine” or “string.”

Ketchup Was Originally Made Out of Fish

If you asked for ketchup thousands of years ago in Asia, you might have been handed something that looks more like today’s soy sauce. Texts as old as 300 BCE show that southern Chinese cooks mixed together salty, fermented pastes made from fish entrails, meat byproducts, and soybeans. These easily shipped and stored concoctions — known in different dialects as “ge-thcup,” “koe-cheup,” “kêtsiap,” or “kicap” — were shared along Southeast Asian trade routes. By the early 18th century, they had become popular with British traders. Yet the recipe was tricky to recreate back in England because the country lacked soybeans. Instead, countless ketchup varieties were made by boiling down other ingredients, sometimes including anchovies or oysters, or marinating them in large quantities of salt (Jane Austen was said to be partial to mushroom ketchup). One crop that the English avoided in their ketchup experiments was tomatoes, which for centuries were thought to be poisonous.

Jelly Beans Have Been to Space

What do Neil Armstrong, tortoises, and jelly beans have in common? Why, they’ve all been to space, of course. President Ronald Reagan was known for being a connoisseur of the chewy candy, so much so that he provided the astronauts aboard the Challenger shuttle with a bag full of them in 1983 — a gift that resulted in charming footage of them tossing the jelly beans in zero gravity before happily eating them. Reagan was also known to break the ice at high-level meetings by passing around jelly beans, even commenting that “you can tell a lot about a fella’s character by whether he picks out all of one color or just grabs a handful.”

Eggo Waffles Were Originally Called “Froffles”

The brothers behind your favorite frozen waffles took a while to iron out the details of their signature product. Working in their parents’ basement in San Jose, California, in the early 1930s, Frank, Anthony, and Sam Dorsa first whipped up their own brand of mayonnaise. Since the base ingredient of mayonnaise is egg yolks — and the brothers took pride in using “100% fresh ranch eggs” — they christened their fledgling company “Eggo.” Despite launching the business during the Great Depression, Eggo mayonnaise sold like hotcakes, motivating the Dorsas to extend their product line. Soon, they were selling waffle batter — another egg-based product. To simplify shipping, they also whipped up a powdered mix that required only the addition of milk.

When the frozen food industry took off in the 1950s, the brothers wanted to take advantage of the rush to the freezer aisle. Frank Dorsa (a trained machinist) repurposed a carousel engine into a rotating device that could anchor a series of waffle irons, each cooking a breakfast treat that was flipped by a factory employee. The machine allowed Eggo to prepare thousands of freezer-bound waffles per hour. These debuted in grocery stores in 1953 under the name Froffles, a portmanteau of “frozen” and “waffles.” Customers referred to them simply as “Eggos,” and the Froffles moniker was dropped within two years.

Canada Has a Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve

A rainy-day cache of sweet, sticky maple syrup may seem more like a luxury than a necessity, but it’s a big deal to Canada, which produces more than 70% of the world’s supply from maple trees grown in the province of Quebec. As such, the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP) founded the Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve in 2000 to help regulate the profitable business. Covering an area of 267,000 square feet across three facilities, the reserve has endured poor sugaring seasons and the dastardly theft of some $20 million worth of barrels in 2012. And even when the COVID-19 pandemic forced many families to fulfill their pancake cravings at home, the QMSP promised to keep pace by announcing that it would release more than half of its 100 million-pound reserve in 2022.

Pineapples Were Once So Valuable People Rented Them for Parties

In the 1700s, party hosts and guests looking to make a statement were in the rental market for a special kind of accessory: pineapples. The message they were trying to send? That they were extravagantly wealthy. Prior to the 20th century, when pineapple plantations made the fruit widely available, pineapples were incredibly expensive imports to Europe (and most other places). In the 18th century, a single fruit bought in Britain could cost upwards of $8,000 in today’s money.

Christopher Columbus is credited with introducing pineapples to Europe in the 1490s after voyaging to the Americas. Just one survived his return journey, and the bromeliad quickly had an impact. Dubbed the “king of fruits,” the pineapple became a symbol of opulence and royalty because of its scarcity. Pineapples were featured in paintings of kings, printed on linens and wallpaper, and even carved into furniture. Obtaining a rare pineapple meant the buyer had money and status — and for that reason, the fruit was also often featured decor at parties and events. Eventually, European botanists learned to grow pineapples in greenhouses and reduce their cost. But until the fruits were widely available, many partygoers in Britain would seek out a pineapple for just one night, renting the fruit for a fraction of its full price and sometimes even carrying it around at the party as the ultimate (uneaten) accessory.

Carrots Weren’t Originally Orange

Today carrots are practically synonymous with the color orange, but their auburn hue is a relatively recent development. When the carrot was first cultivated 5,000 years ago in Central Asia, it was often a bright purple. Soon, two different groups emerged: Asiatic carrots and Western carrots. Eventually, yellow carrots in this Western group (which may have developed as mutants of the purple variety) developed into their recognizable orange color around the 16th century, helped along by the master agricultural traders of the time — the Dutch.

A common myth says the Dutch grew these carrots to honor William of Orange, the founding father of the Dutch Republic, but there’s no evidence of this. What’s more likely is that the Dutch took to the vegetable because it thrived in the country’s mild, wet climate. (Although the orange color may have first appeared naturally, Dutch farmers made it the predominant hue by selectively growing orange roots — scholars say these carrots likely performed more reliably, tasted better, and were less likely to stain than the purple versions.) The modern orange carrot evolved from this period of Dutch cultivation, and soon spread throughout Europe before making its way to the New World. Today, there are more than 40 varieties of carrots of various shapes, sizes, and colors — including several hues of purple.

Bananas Are Slightly Radioactive

Mentions of radioactivity can send the mind in a dramatic direction, but many ordinary items are technically radioactive — including the humble banana. Radioactivity occurs when elements decay, and for bananas, this radioactivity comes from a potassium isotope called K-40. Although it makes up only 0.012% of the atoms found in potassium, K-40 can spontaneously decay, which releases beta and gamma radiation. That amount of radiation is harmless in one banana, but a truckload of bananas has been known to fool radiation detectors designed to sniff out nuclear weapons. In fact, bananas are so well known for their radioactive properties that there’s even an informal radiation measurement named the Banana Equivalent Dose, or BED.

So does this mean bananas are unhealthy? Well, no. The human body always stores roughly 16 mg of K-40, which technically makes humans 280 times more radioactive than your average banana. Although bananas do introduce more of this radioactive isotope, the body keeps potassium in balance (or homeostasis), and your metabolism excretes any excess potassium. A person would have to eat many millions of bananas in one sitting to get a lethal dose (at which point you’d likely have lots of other problems).

Cheese Is the World’s Most-Stolen Food

Each year, about 4% of the world’s cheese supply is stolen — making it the most-stolen food in the world. Cheese, after all, is big business: Global sales exceeded $114 billion in 2019. In Italy, Parmesan is so valuable it can be used as loan collateral, according to CBS News. Consequently, the black market for cheese is thriving. From 2014 to 2016, organized crime was responsible for stealing about $7 million of Parmesan. And dairy-based crime definitely isn’t limited to Italy: In 2009, a duo of cheese thieves in New Zealand led police on a high-octane car chase — and tried to throw off the pursuit by tossing boxes of cheddar out the window.

The Ancient Romans Thought Eating Butter Was Barbaric

Our friends in ancient Rome indulged in a lot of activities that we would find unseemly today — including and especially gladiators fighting to the death — but they drew the line at eating butter. To do so was considered barbaric, with Pliny the Elder going so far as to call butter “the choicest food among barbarian tribes.” In addition to a general disdain for drinking too much milk, Romans took issue with butter specifically because they used it for treating burns and thus thought of it as a medicinal salve, not a food.

The Greeks also considered the dairy product uncivilized, and “butter eater” was among the most cutting insults of the day. In both cases, this can be partly explained by climate — butter didn’t keep as well in warm southern climates as it did in northern Europe, where groups such as the Celts gloried in their butter. Instead, the Greeks and Romans relied on olive oil, which served a similar purpose.

Sweet Potatoes Aren’t Potatoes

Sweet potatoes and common potatoes share part of a name and the spotlight at Thanksgiving meals, but the two are entirely different plants — and sweet potatoes aren’t even potatoes. While both root vegetable species are native to Central and South America, they’re classified as unrelated. Sweet potatoes belong to the Convolvulaceae family, a group of flowering plants that’s also called the morning glory family. Potatoes belong to the nightshade (Solanaceae) family, and are cousins to peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants. Both species get their name from an Indigenous Caribbean term, batata, which eventually morphed into the English “potato.” By the 1740s, “sweet” was added to the orange-fleshed tuber’s name to differentiate the two root crops.

Meanwhile, yams are biologically unrelated to either sweet potatoes or common potatoes. These tubers belong to the Dioscoreacea family, a group of flowering plants usually cultivated in tropical areas. Luckily, you don’t have to know their scientific classification to distinguish between the two non-spuds at the grocery store: Sweet potatoes have tapered ends and relatively smooth skin, while true yams are generally larger with rough bark and a more cylindrical shape. At most U.S. grocery stores, what you’re seeing labeled as a yam is probably actually a sweet potato.

Nutmeg Is a Hallucinogen

Today, nutmeg is used in the kitchen to add a little zing to baked goods and cool-weather drinks, though at various times in history it’s been used for fragrance, medicine … and its psychotropic properties. That’s possible thanks to myristicin, a chemical compound found in high concentrations in nutmeg, but also produced in other foods like parsley and carrots. Myristicin is able to cause hallucinations by disrupting the central nervous system, causing the body to produce too much norepinephrine — a hormone and neurotransmitter that transmits signals among nerve endings. While the idea of conjuring illusions of the mind might sound intriguing, nutmeg intoxication also comes with a litany of unpleasant side effects, including dizziness, confusion, drowsiness, and heart palpitations, so don’t try this at home.

Honey Never Expires

As long as it’s stored properly, honey will never expire. Honey has an endless shelf life, as proven by the archaeologists who unsealed King Tut’s tomb in 1923 and found containers of honey within it. After performing a not-so-scientific taste test, researchers reported the 3,000-year-old honey still tasted sweet.

Honey’s preservative properties have a lot to do with how little water it contains. Some 80% of honey is made up of sugar, with only 18% being water. Having so little moisture makes it difficult for bacteria and microorganisms to survive. Honey is also so thick, little oxygen can penetrate — another barrier to bacteria’s growth. Plus, the substance is extremely acidic, thanks to a special enzyme in bee stomachs called glucose oxidase. When mixed with nectar to make honey, the enzyme produces gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide, byproducts that lower the sweetener’s pH level and kill off bacteria. In most cases, honey can be safely stored for years on end — just make sure it’s in a sealed container (and check out these five other foods that almost never expire).

Misting Produce Is a Clever Way To Make You Buy More

Many grocery stores display produce in open cases fitted with tiny jets to periodically bathe the veggies in a cool mist. (Some supermarkets even pipe in the sound of thundering rain to add to the rainy vibe.) The purpose behind misting is not to keep produce clean or extend its shelf life — it’s a clever way for grocers to make the fruits and vegetables look fresher and healthier so consumers purchase more. Water clinging to leafy greens also adds weight, which increases revenue for the store when vegetables are sold by the pound.

Ironically, misting actually shortens produce’s shelf life because water allows bacteria and mold to take hold. Misted veggies will likely not last as long in your fridge as those that weren’t misted in the produce aisle — which is another, perhaps sneakier, way to get you to buy produce more often.

Plant Milks Have Been Around for 5,000 Years

For years, dairy producers have sued alternative milk companies for using the word “milk” on their packaging — but history is not on their side. Evidence suggests that Romans had a complex understanding of the word “milk,” as the root of the word “lettuce” comes from “lact” (as in “lactate”). Many medieval cookbooks make reference to almond milk, and the earliest mention of soy milk can be found on a Chinese stone slab from around the first to third century CE. However, coconut milk has the longest history; archaeologists have recovered coconut graters among relics from Madagascar and Southeast Asia that date back to around 3000 to 1500 BCE.

“Continental Breakfast” Is a British Term for Breakfast on the European Continent

Many hotels offer guests a free “continental” breakfast with their stay, but what exactly makes a breakfast “continental”? The term originated in the mid-19th century in Britain as a way to distinguish the hearty English breakfast — typically consisting of eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and beans — from the lighter fare found in places like France and other Mediterranean countries in continental Europe. It typically consists of pastries, fruits, toast, and coffee served buffet-style. As American breakfasts also tended to feature outsized helpings of protein and fruits, the “continental” moniker proved useful for hotels on the other side of the Atlantic as well.

Chickens Might Be Among the Closest Living Relatives of the Tyrannosaurus Rex

Dinosaurs still live among us — we just call them birds. Today, scientists consider all birds a type of dinosaur, descendants of creatures who survived the mass extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period. And yes, that even includes the chicken. In 2008, scientists performed a molecular analysis of a shred of 68 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein, and compared it to a variety of proteins belonging to many different animals. Although proteins from alligators were relatively close, the best match by far belonged to ostriches — the largest flightless birds on Earth — and the humble chicken.

Following the initial 2008 study, further research has proved that a chicken’s genetic lineage closely resembles that of its avian dinosaur ancestors. Scientists have even concluded that a reconstruction of T. rex’s chromosomes would likely produce something similar to a chicken, duck, or ostrich. Meanwhile, some archaeological evidence supports an idea that the earliest human-raised chickens may not have been eaten, but instead revered and possibly even used as psychopomps, aka animals tasked with leading the deceased to the afterlife.

Some Popular Nuts Are Not Actually Nuts

Botanically speaking, a nut is a fruit with a hard shell containing a single seed. The true nuts you might encounter in the produce aisle include hazelnuts and chestnuts. Many of the products sold as “culinary nuts” belong to other botanical classifications. Cashews, almonds, and pistachios are drupes, a type of fruit with thin skin and a pit containing the seed. (Peaches, mangos, cherries, and olives are also drupes.) And the jury is still out on whether walnuts and pecans fall into the nut or drupe category since they have characteristics of both. Some botanists call them drupaceous nuts.

Tomatoes Have More Genes Than Humans

We humans have somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 genes — a sizable number to be sure, but still considerably fewer than the 31,760 in everyone’s favorite nightshade, the tomato. Though scientists still aren’t sure why tomatoes have such a complex genome, an emerging theory relates to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Around the time those giant creatures disappeared from Earth, the nightshade family (Solanaceae) tripled its number of genes. Eventually the superfluous copies of genes that served no biological purpose disappeared, but that still left a lot of functional ones; some believe the extra DNA helped tomatoes survive during an especially perilous time on the planet, when it was likely still recovering from the aftereffects of a devastating asteroid.

Humans, meanwhile, have two copies of every gene: one from their mother and one from their father. The number of genes doesn’t necessarily imply biological sophistication, but rather how an organism “manages its cells’ affairs” — simply put, humans make more efficient use of the genes they have.

Gummy Bears Owe Their Shape to Dancing Bears

In 19th-century Europe, it wasn’t uncommon to see trained bears frolicking down the streets in celebration of a parade or festival. Called “dancing bears,” these animals would skip, hop, whirl, twirl, and perform an array of tricks. Fast-forward to the 1920s, when German candymaker Hans Riegel was searching for a clever way to sell his gelatin-based confections to children. Recalling the two-stepping bears of yore, Riegel decided to make an Ursus-shaped candy called Tanzbär (literally “dancing bear”). The snacks were a huge success. Today, you probably know Riegel’s company as Haribo.

Egg Creams Contain Neither Eggs nor Cream

Foods tend to get their names from their appearance or ingredients, though not all are so clear-cut. Take, for instance, the egg cream, a beverage that has delighted the taste buds of New Yorkers (and other diner patrons) since the 1890s. But if you’ve never sipped on the cool, fizzy drink known for its chocolate flavor and foamy top, you should know: There are no eggs or cream in a traditional egg cream drink.

According to culinary lore, the first egg cream was the accidental invention of Louis Auster, a late-19th- and early-20th-century candy shop owner in New York’s Lower East Side. Auster’s sweet treat arrived in the 1890s, at a time when soda fountains had started selling fancier drinks, and it was a hit — the enterprising inventor reportedly sold upwards of 3,000 egg creams per day by the 1920s and ’30s. However, Auster kept his recipe well guarded; the confectioner refused to sell his formula, and eventually took his recipe to the grave. The origins of the drink’s name have also been lost to time. Some believe the name “egg cream” came from Auster’s use of “Grade A” cream, which could have sounded like “egg cream” with a New York accent. Another possible explanation points to the Yiddish phrase “echt keem,” meaning “pure sweetness.”

Feature image credit: Original photo by kate_sept2004/ iStock

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According to Ethiopian legend, the first beings to get a java jolt were a herd of goats who nibbled on the fruit of a coffee shrub; a goat herder named Kaldi quickly followed their lead. While it’s unclear whether Kaldi and his caprines truly discovered coffee, today the brewed beverage is one of the most widely consumed drinks in the world. Introduced to America in the mid-17th century, coffee quickly replaced heavily taxed tea as a more patriotic staple during the fight for independence. In the time since, soldiers have relied on coffee to boost morale overseas, children of U.S. Presidents have founded their own coffeehouses, and American coffee brands have expanded across the globe. Can’t get enough coffee? Discover 12 amazing facts you might not know about this beloved morning beverage.

Regularly Consuming Coffee May Have Health Benefits

Coffee was once believed to be an unhealthy (and possibly dangerous) indulgence, but newer research suggests it actually has health benefits that could extend your life. Researchers have found that people who drink moderate amounts of coffee — about two to five cups — have lower risks of developing Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, and some cancers. Both regular and decaf coffee offer these perks; it’s not the caffeine that helps, but likely the polyphenols, a plant compound found in coffee that works as an antioxidant.

Espresso Was Invented to Speed Up Coffee Breaks

At least three Italian inventors played a role in creating espresso. Angelo Moriondo was the first; his “steam machinery for the economic and instantaneous confection of coffee beverage” was patented in 1884, though it could only brew large batches of coffee and never became commercially available. Nearly two decades later, Luigi Bezzera created his own espresso machine, which cut down brewing time from several minutes to just 30 seconds (much better for workers on coffee breaks). With the help of inventor Desiderio Pavoni, Bezzera’s reworked machine — which most closely resembles espresso machines used in coffee shops today — debuted at the 1906 World’s Fair in Milan, where the duo sold “caffè espresso.”

New Orleans Is Known for an Herby Coffee Alternative

Coffee drinkers in France have long blended their brews with chicory, a blue-flowered herb native to Europe and Asia with roots that offer a coffee-like flavor when roasted. French settlers brought the practice to Louisiana, helping chicory coffee become a mainstay in times of conflict when real coffee imports were hard to come by — such as during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s, and later during the Civil War. However, amid some conflicts, like World War I, chicory was in so much demand that the once-cheap substitute cost more than actual coffee. Today, many coffee drinkers in New Orleans continue to enjoy their java with chicory included.

The Word “Cappuccino” Was Inspired by Monks

Italy is often called the world’s coffee capital, so it’s no wonder that many of the words we use to describe a cup of joe come from Italian. Take, for example, the cappuccino (a drink made from espresso and steamed milk), which gets its name from a 16th-century order of Italian monks. The Capuchin friars were known for helping those experiencing poverty; as such, they themselves rebuked wealth and wore simple brown robes, with long, pointed hoods that were called “cappuccio.” The earliest cappuccino drinks, which emerged around the 1700s, were nicknamed after these religious figures, because adding milk to espresso resulted in a color similar to that of the monks’ attire.

Black Coffee Cools Faster Than Coffee With Cream

Adding a little cream to your cup of coffee can improve the flavor and possibly help it stay warm for longer. Some food scientists believe that coffee with cream cools about 20% more slowly than plain black coffee, thanks to three rules of physics. Darker colors emit heat faster than lighter colors, so adding cream to lighten the drink’s hue may slow down heat loss. Hotter surfaces also radiate heat faster, so plain coffee will cool faster than a cup that’s been slightly chilled by adding cold cream. Viscosity is also a factor: Cream thickens coffee, making a steamy cup evaporate more slowly. Since evaporation causes heat loss, the less there is, the more time you’ll have to enjoy coffee before it’s too cold.

Coffee-Flavored Jelly Was Once A Popular Treat

Home cooks of the early 1800s could try their hand at making coffee jelly, a dessert that originated in England and later spread to the Eastern U.S. Coffee jelly was promoted as an alternative to the hot beverage for those who didn’t like the taste or whose stomachs didn’t agree with the acidity. The jiggly dessert was considered a healthy option for people who were sick, or could be eaten as an after-dinner curative for people who drank too much alcohol at mealtimes. While coffee jelly is now a rarity in the United States, it is commonly found in Japan, where it’s a popular treat.

Coffee Beans Aren’t Actually Beans

It turns out that the name you’re familiar with for those tiny pods that are ground and brewed for a fresh cup of joe is a misnomer. Coffee “beans” are actually the seeds found within coffee cherries, a reddish fruit harvested from coffee trees. Farmers remove the skin and flesh from the cherry, leaving only the seed inside to be washed and roasted.

Coffee farming is a major time investment: On average, a tree takes three or four years to produce its first crop of cherries. In most of the Coffee Belt — a band along the equator where most coffee is grown that includes the countries of Brazil, Ethiopia, and Indonesia — coffee cherries are harvested just once per year. In many countries, the cherries are picked by hand, a laborious process.

Decaf Coffee Is Still a Tiny Bit Caffeinated

Decaf coffee has helped coffee drinkers enjoy the taste of coffee without (much of) the jolting effects of caffeine, but its creation was entirely accidental. According to legend, around 1905 German coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius received a crate of coffee beans that had been drenched with seawater. Trying to salvage the beans, the salesman roasted them anyway, discovering that cups brewed with the beans retained their taste (with a little added salt) but didn’t have any jittery side effects. Today, the process for making decaf blends remains relatively similar: Beans are soaked in water or other solvents to remove the caffeine, then washed and roasted. However, no coffee is entirely free of caffeine. It’s estimated that 97% of caffeine is removed during preparation, but a cup of decaf has as little as 2 milligrams of caffeine — compared to regular coffee’s 95 milligrams.

Bach Wrote an Opera About Coffee

Johann Bach is remembered as one of the world’s greatest composers, known for orchestral compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos. But one of Bach’s lesser-known works is Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (“Be Still, Stop Chattering”) — a humorous ode to coffee popularly known as the Coffee Cantata. Written sometime in the 1730s, Bach’s opera makes light of fears at the time that coffee was an immoral beverage entirely unfit for consumption. In the 18th century, coffee shops in Europe were known to be boisterous places of conversation, unchaperoned meeting places for young romantics, and the birthplaces of political plots. A reported lover of coffee, Bach wrote a 10-movement piece that pokes fun at the uproar over coffee. The opera tells the story of a father attempting to persuade his daughter to give up her coffee addiction so that she might get married, but in the end, she just becomes a coffee-imbibing bride.

The First Webcam Was Invented For a Coffee Pot

We can credit coffee-craving inventors for creating the first webcam. In the early 1990s, computer scientists working at the University of Cambridge grew tired of trekking to the office kitchen for a cup of joe only to find the carafe in need of a refill. The solution? They devised a makeshift digital monitor — a camera that uploaded three pictures per minute of the coffee maker to a shared computer network — to guarantee a fresh pot of coffee was waiting the moment their mugs emptied. By November 1993, the in-house camera footage made its internet debut, and viewers from around the globe tuned in to watch the grainy, real-time recording. The world’s first webcam generated so much excitement that computer enthusiasts even traveled to the U.K. lab to see the setup in real life. In 2003, the coffee pot sold at auction for nearly $5,000.

Coffee Was Frequently a Staple in the Oval Office

Coffee has a long political history in the U.S. — colonists who tossed heavily-taxed tea into the Boston Harbor switched to drinking the caffeinated brew as part of their rebellion. But even after the Revolutionary War’s end, American leaders held an enduring love for the beverage. George Washington grew coffee shrubs at his Mount Vernon estate (though because of climate, they likely never produced beans), while Thomas Jefferson loved coffee so much that he estimated using a pound per day at Monticello during retirement. Similarly, Theodore Roosevelt reportedly consumed an entire gallon of coffee each day, and George H.W. Bush was known for imbibing up to 10 daily cups.

Your Genes Might Determine How Much Coffee You Drink

If you can’t get through the day without several cups of coffee, you may have your genes to blame. A 2018 study suggests inherited traits determine how sensitive humans are to bitter foods like caffeine and quinine (found in tonic water). Researchers found that people with genes that allow them to strongly taste bitter caffeine were more likely to be heavy coffee drinkers (defined as consuming four or more cups daily). It seems counterintuitive that people more perceptive to astringent tastes would drink more coffee than those with average sensitivity — after all, bitter-detecting taste buds likely developed as the body’s response to prevent poisoning. But some scientists think that human brains have learned to bypass this warning system in favor of caffeine’s energizing properties. The downside? Constant coffee consumers are at higher risk of developing caffeine addiction.

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Fries without ketchup, pancakes without syrup — what would your favorite dishes be like without a little sauce? Condiments can make or break a meal; the word, after all, comes from the Latin condimentum, meaning “to season.” Take a moment to appreciate all the taste bud sensations that sidekick sauces can provide with these eight facts.

Soy Sauce Was Originally Made From Meat

The soy sauce you find at grocery stores today typically contains just four simple ingredients — soybeans, wheat, salt, and water — which are blended and fermented over several months or years to give the sauce its umami flavor. However, the oldest known types of soy sauce used meat in place of legumes. Called jiang, the flavoring was a thick and pasty blend of meat, a fermenting agent made from millet, and salt that fermented for about 100 days; it was ready when the meat had entirely dissolved. Food historians believe Chinese soy sauce makers eventually ditched using meat and switched to soybeans about 2,000 years ago.

Mayo Became Popular After a French and British Battle

The origins of mayonnaise are heavily debated among food historians, particularly regarding the issue of whether the creamy spread was invented by the Spanish or the French. One commonly told tale dates back to 1756 during the Seven Years’ War, when French forces set siege to Minorca’s Port Mahon (then ruled by the British). After the battle, a French chef working for the invading forces reportedly blended egg and oil together in a celebratory meal, calling the finished product “mahonnaise” for the region. However, some researchers believe residents of Port Mahon had already been making and using mayonnaise (their version was called Salsa Mahonesa). Regardless of who created it, mayo became linked with French cooking by the early 19th century, and the multipurpose dressing reached American menus by the 1830s.

White House Staff Kept Ketchup on Hand for One President’s Breakfast

Among White House staff, Richard Nixon’s love of cottage cheese was well known. During his time in the Oval Office, the 37th President regularly enjoyed a breakfast of fruit, wheat germ, coffee, and cottage cheese topped with ketchup. (His last meal in office nixed the condiment, but did include a tall glass of milk and cottage cheese atop pineapple slices.)

Nearly All American Shoppers Buy Peanut Butter

There’s one condiment you’ll have a good chance of finding in pantries across the country: peanut butter. In 2023, 90% of U.S. households included the smooth and creamy spread on their grocery lists. On average, Americans consumed 4.4 pounds of peanut butter per capita in 2023, a culinary craving that first became popular during World War I, when peanut butter was an inexpensive and easily accessible protein during wartime rationing.

Syrup-Producing Trees Have a Special Name

Making pure maple syrup is a time-intensive labor that starts inside of “sugarbushes,” aka groves of maple trees. Syrup farmers can wait up to 40 years before a maple tree grows large enough to be tapped, and even when they are, the trees typically produce just 10 gallons of sap per tap hole per season. After boiling off excess water, that’s enough to make about 1 quart of maple syrup.

There’s a Hot Sauce-Themed Opera

Not many foods are the stars of an opera performance, though one kind of hot sauce is. Boston composer George Whitefield Chadwick debuted Tabasco: A Burlesque Opera in 1894. It tells the story of an Irish traveler lost at sea who washes ashore in Morocco and works as a chef, and who creates spicy dishes (his secret ingredient: Tabasco). Chadwick’s opera was partially financed by the McIlhenny Company — the maker of Tabasco. In its first week, it turned a profit of $26,000.

Ernest Hemingway’s Burger Recipe Used Tons of Condiments

One of Ernest Hemingway’s lesser-known creations wasn’t a novel, but a hamburger. His recipe included a smattering of condiments inside the mixture rather than on top. The author’s technique called for wine, garlic, and sometimes ground almonds, but also several different spice blends and relishes. His recommendation for getting the meat perfectly ready for the grill? Let it “sit out of the icebox for 10 to 15 minutes while you set the table and make the salad.”

Historians Have Recreated a 2,000-Year-Old Condiment

You can get a taste for how ancient Romans and Greeks once ate with a little dash of garum, a fish sauce that was popular about 2,000 years ago. Historians relied on surviving recipes for instructions that included steps like leaving fish to break down in open containers for three months. However, it wasn’t until clay pots from a garum-making shop in Pompeii were unearthed that researchers found evidence of the sauce that could be analyzed for additional ingredients such as dill, fennel, and coriander that help the salty and umami-flavored sauce shine.

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It’s hard to resist the call of break room doughnuts, or the allure of a leisurely stroll down the grocery store snack food aisle. While it may not have much nutritional value, sometimes a good helping of a crispy, crunchy, sweet, salty, or sour snack is just what we need to remedy a bad mood or a tough day. Grab a snack and unwrap these eight facts about popular junk foods.

Doughnuts Cook Better Because of Their Holes

Ever wondered why doughnuts have holes? Historians aren’t certain why (or when) the doughy centers disappeared, but one theory suggests it may have been to help the pastries cook more evenly. According to food lore, American sailor Hansen Gregory created the doughnut’s modern shape around 1847 while at sea; by his account, doughnuts of the time were twisted or diamond-shaped and often cooked faster on the outsides than in the centers. Removing the dense middles helped create uniformly cooked treats that fried quickly and didn’t absorb as much oil.

Twinkies Got Their Name From a Shoe Advertisement

The spongy, cream-filled cakes we call Twinkies were first created in 1930 in an attempt to put unused bakery pans back into production. Creator James Dewar was a manager at the Continental Baking Company outside Chicago, where he noticed the factory’s strawberry shortcake-making equipment sat idle once strawberry season ended. Dewar used the pans to bake small cakes injected with cream fillings, naming his invention Twinkies after seeing a billboard for Twinkle Toe Shoes.

7-Eleven and Coca-Cola Teamed Up To Create the Big Gulp

Supersized drinks are just one of the junk food finds you can pick up at 7-Eleven, thanks to a partnership between the convenience store chain and soda manufacturer Coca-Cola. Representatives from the beverage brand approached 7-Eleven leadership in 1976 about upgrading cup sizes from 20 ounces to 32 ounces; after successful market testing at locations in Southern California, 7-Eleven rolled out its larger cups nationally in 1980. However, supersizing drinks didn’t stop there — 7-Eleven rolled out its 44-ounce Super Gulp six years later, and launched the 64-ounce Double Gulp in 1989.

Potato Chips Were Nearly Discontinued During World War II

In the midst of World War II, the U.S. War Production Board was tasked with making the most of limited materials for the war effort, pausing manufacturing of noncritical foods and items. One of the items on the chopping block: potato chips. The snack was initially considered “nonessential,” a move that would stop factories from producing potato chips until the war ended. However, chip manufacturers lobbied to rescind the ruling and even secured contracts to produce chips for troops overseas and workers in manufacturing plants. One such company — Albany, New York’s Blue Ribbon potato chip brand — chipped in about 7 million pounds of crisps to the war effort in just nine months.

A Slurpee Straw Was Featured at MOMA

Spoon straws make it easier to gulp down frosty drinks, but usually get little thought once the Slurpee is done. That’s exactly why the Museum of Modern Art keeps one in its collection. In 2004, a single spoon straw was featured as part of the museum’s “Humble Masterpieces” exhibit, which highlighted around 120 simple, everyday items. The spoon straw’s inventor — engineer Arthur Aykanian — held more than 40 patents, some straw-related, and others not so much, like medical tools used in skin cancer treatment.

Pop-Tarts Originally Had a Different Name

The first toaster pastries — called Country Squares — hit grocery store shelves in 1963, created by Post Cereals. Kellogg Company released its own version six months later, called the Fruit Scone. After further workshopping, Kellogg changed the name to Pop-Tarts (a play on the Pop Art movement of the 1950s and ’60s), and produced the treats in four flavors: strawberry, blueberry, apple-currant, and brown sugar cinnamon. However, the iconic hard icing didn’t top the toaster treats until 1967, four years after the snacks debuted.

Eating Junk Food Rewires Our Brains

There’s a reason ordering your favorite fast-food snack or indulging in a candy bar feels good. It all has to do with dopamine, the “feel-good” hormone inside our brains that influences our moods, behaviors, and motivation. Eating junk food — especially items packed with sugar — triggers the brain’s reward system to release large amounts of dopamine, which makes us feel happy. Over time, our brains adapt to these dopamine rushes, causing junk food cravings and even growing more dopamine receptors that require larger amounts of junk food to have the same satisfying feeling.

You Can Celebrate National Junk Food Day Each Summer

Hot dogs aren’t the only food with their own day of celebration in July — the ever-expanding junk food category is honored in the same month. National Junk Food Day lands on July 21, giving you the chance to celebrate by indulging in all your favorite sweet and savory treats.