Fruit stickers are edible, though the same as any fruit; washing before eating is recommended. The glue used for them is regulated by the FDA.
100 Mind-Blowing Eating Facts
The scientific name for the Giant Anteater is Myrmecophaga Tridactyla. This means “ant-eating with three fingers.”
While shedding, geckos will eat their skin to prevent predators from finding and eating them more easily.
Polar bears often hunt walruses by simply charging at a group of them and eating the ones that were crushed or wounded in the mass panic to escape. Direct attacks are rare.
It is thought by Russians that eating ice cream will keep you warm.
Octopuses only touch in situations of mating or aggression. Female octopuses sometimes do both, strangling and eating the male after mating.
Eating grapefruit can restrict the effects of 43 different kinds of medications.
An amateur beekeeper and a group of scientists found that wax worms are capable of eating and breaking down plastic bags. The settings of a wax worm’s stomach can be recreated to safely dispose of plastic bags and bottles.
Eating a banana can help to form a lining that prevents heartburn from getting worse.
Your brain is constantly eating itself. This process is called phagocytosis, where cells envelop and consume smaller cells or molecules to remove them from the system. Don’t worry! Phagocytosis isn’t harmful but helps preserve your grey matter.
The earliest evidence of humans eating oatmeal dates to more than 30,000 years ago, according to Britannica.
Johnny Appleseed’s fruits weren’t for eating. Yes, there was a real John Chapman who planted thousands of apple trees on U.S. soil. But the apples on those trees were much more bitter than the ones you’d find in the supermarket today. “Johnny Appleseed” didn’t expect his fruits to be eaten whole but rather made into hard apple cider.
Europeans were scared of eating tomatoes when they were introduced. Scholars think Hernán Cortés brought the seeds in 1519 with the intent of the fruits being used ornamentally in gardens. By the 1700s, aristocrats started eating tomatoes, but they were convinced the fruits were poisonous because people would die after eating them. In reality, the acidity from the tomatoes brought out the lead in their pewter plates, and they died of lead poisoning.
Boars wash their food. National Geographic reported that at Basel Zoo in Switzerland, zookeepers watched adult and juvenile wild boars pick up sandy apples and bring them to a nearby creek in their environment to wash before eating. Though some items like sugar beets were eaten without human-like behaviour, the boars brought a whole dead chicken to the creek to wash before chowing down. One ecologist called this a “luxury behaviour.”
Bees can make coloured honey. In France, there’s a biogas plant that manages waste from a Mars chocolate factory, where M&Ms are made. Beekeepers nearby noticed that their bees were making “unnatural shades of green and blue” honey. A spokesperson from the British Beekeepers’ Association theorized that the bees eating the sugary M&M waste caused the coloured honey.
Froot Loops loops are all the same flavour. No point in eating around the purple ones—all Froot Loops taste like, um, froot. Other than the Wild Berry Froot Loops, of course.
The Japanese word ‘Kuchi zamishi’ is the act of eating when you’re not hungry because your mouth is lonely. We do this all the time.
Eating polar bear liver can kill a human being. If eaten in one meal, 30-90 g of polar bear liver can be fatal. Its high concentration of Vitamin A is toxic to humans.
Chickens are eaten for their whole life cycle. A not-so-fun fact for the chickens, but one of the fun facts to ponder: when you’re eating chicken katsu or a chicken omelette, you could be eating a whole family. You’re essentially eating a chicken before (AKA, the eggs) and after its birth. Oh, not to mention day-old chicks.
Wild boars wash their food. At the Basel Zoo in Switzerland, zookeepers observed adult and juvenile wild boars bringing sandy apples to a nearby creek to wash before eating. They’re even neater than some people.
Crocodiles are one of the planet’s oldest living creatures. These animals have survived for over 200 million years. This may be due to their superb ability to be able to go for long periods without eating.
McDonald’s once had bubblegum-flavored broccoli. This was done as an attempt to make kids enjoy eating vegetables. However, this strange method failed for obvious reasons.
Kummerspeck is German for the weight gained during emotional eating. This vaguely translates to ‘grief bacon’. In some languages, this German term is said to add insult to injury.
Geckos eat the skin they shed. This is to prevent predators from finding and eating them. A small price to pay for survival.
Russians believe that eating ice cream will keep you warm. This is a method used to trick your body into thinking that its body temperature is crashing. This will then automatically force your body heat to readjust to survive.
Eating too many onions can cause sleepiness. The onion is full of beneficial minerals that are good for the human body. However, it is also a natural sedative because they are rich in L-tryptophan.
A plant that consumes rats can be found in the Philippines. Scientists discovered this rat-eating pitcher plant in the Philippines in the year 2009. This newly discovered pitcher plant is considered one of the biggest carnivorous plants on the planet.
The chacma baboons reside in Africa’s Namib desert. According to research, a group of chacma baboons once survived 116 days in the desert without any water. They survived solely by eating figs they found.
Termites and ants are roasted and eaten like popcorn in South Africa. Eating insects is a common occurrence in South Africa. This is also a common street food you can find in parts of Africa.
In China, seductively eating a banana during a livestream is illegal. This was done so that the number of underaged women in China could not attract older male audiences. The Chinese government deems such acts like this harm the social morality.
Children are more often poisoned by house plants rather than household chemicals. The poisoning could occur from eating or touching the leaves, roots, or berries. Having skin contact with the plant’s sap or juices could also cause poisoning. Some cases also occur when children drink water that comes from the plant tray.
A Sardinian Cheese called Casu mazu contains live maggots. These maggots can jump up to five inches out of the cheese as you eat it. If you were able to try this delicacy, it is advised to protect your eyes while eating so that the maggots will not enter your eyes.
There is a bird found in Kea that is over two feet long. This bird can be found in New Zealand. It has also been observed that it enjoys eating the strips of rubber found around car windows.
Rabbits eat their faeces. After eating them, they will digest them again like normal food. Rabbits have two kinds of droppings, little black round ones and softer black ones known as cecotropes. The cecotrope droppings are the ones that they eat and they do this so they can re-absorb any undigested nutrients from their food. This process is normally done once a day.
Cookie Monster’s real name is Sid. You’ve heard about villain origin stories, but we bet you haven’t seen this one yet: Before eating his first cookie, Cookie Monster was Sid. What this implies has not been confirmed, as well as who he was as Sid. How’s that for dark, interesting facts?
There’s a cheese eaten with live maggots. If you’re one for exotic eats, the Casu marzu is a Sardinian cheese that has a special ingredient: live maggots. These maggots can jump up to five inches out of the cheese while you’re eating it, so it’s advised to shield it with your hand so it won’t get on your face.
There’s a cannibal galaxy next door. Speaking of eating, our galaxy is also set to collide with the neighbouring Andromeda galaxy, which has a history of devouring other galaxies.
Chopsticks were initially created for cooking, not as an eating utensil. In Ancient China, chopsticks were invented and used for cooking. Because of their length, they were perfect for reaching into pots of hot water or oil.
Craving ice is a symptom of iron deficiency. If you like munching on ice, you might have anaemia. The compulsive eating of ice is also known as pagophagia and could be a subconscious way of cooling mouth inflammation caused by iron deficiency.
The most Big Macs ever eaten by a person is 26,000 burgers. The most Big Macs eaten in one lifetime is a whopping 26,000 Big Macs eaten by Donald A. Gorske of the U.S. He hit his big milestone on October 11, 2012, after eating Big Macs daily for 40 years.
A man once ate an entire plane. You read that right. Michel Lotito was a famous French entertainer known for eating inedible things. Lotito ate metal, glass, rubber and other industrial materials. He disassembled, cut, and ate items such as bicycles, shopping carts, televisions, and – most notably – a Cessna 150. The 680kg plane took roughly two years to be “eaten” by Lotito from 1978 to 1980.
Chalk is edible. Chalk is not toxic, but digesting large amounts is still not advisable. Eating your classroom chalk is also not advised. Check out these edible chalk brands instead.
Moustache shields were a thing in the Victorian Era. You’ve heard of post-mortem photo ops and cocaine toothache drops, but another peculiar Victorian-Era thing is the moustache shield. Patented in 1876 by Virgil A Gates, the moustache shield was designed to keep facial hair out of the way when eating and drinking.
Bears don’t poop during hibernation. You might wonder, “How do animals keep in their poop when they hibernate?” Before an animal goes into hibernation, they will eat a lot to sustain them until they wake. So, where does all the food go? Bears keep their food in by eating grass and twigs, creating a plug or stopper in their bowels. With this stopper, they can sleep continuously without having to poop. However, once they wake up, it all comes out.
Junk food is as addictive as drugs. The struggle to quit and the tendency to lose control may sound like a drug problem, but it’s a similar problem for junk food. According to a study, eating junk food has a similar effect on brain activity as narcotics do. This phenomenon is more common with highly processed food such as fast food and instant food. Isn’t that one of the useless facts you wish you didn’t know?
Mexicans normally celebrate New Year’s Eve by eating 12 grapes at midnight.
It’s a common belief in Russia that eating ice cream will keep you warm.
“Kuchisabishii” is Japanese for unconscious eating. It describes the act of eating when you’re not hungry because your mouth is “lonely.”
Your brain is constantly eating itself. Called phagocytosis, this process allows cells to envelop and consume smaller cells or molecules to remove them from the system. It might sound a little scary, but it’s a good thing since it helps our brains preserve grey matter!
Contrary to popular belief, flamingos are not born pink. They’re born with grey or white feathers and develop pink feathers from eating shrimp and algae.
The human brain is eating itself. Phagocytosis is where cells consume smaller cells or molecules to ultimately remove them from the system. This is not a harmful process but a necessary one to preserve grey matter in the brain.
In Japanese, the word “kuchisabishii” describes eating not because you’re hungry but because your mouth is lonely.
Bats save the U.S. agriculture industry an estimated $3.7 to $53 billion annually by eating pest insects.
Lima beans have an amazing ability to command wasps as a defence. If insects are eating the lima bean’s leaves, the plant gives off a substance that acts as a signal to parasitic wasps to swoop in and destroy their enemy (i.e. the leaf-eating insects).
Cookie Monster isn’t eating cookies on Sesame Street – they’re painted rice cakes!
Beekeepers in France noticed that their bees were producing honey in unusual shades of green and blue. After investigating, the beekeepers discovered that the bees had been eating remnants of M&M candy shells from a nearby factory.
There’s a restaurant in New York that employs grandmas instead of chefs. The menu at Enoteca Maria is a little unconventional, as half of it is a fixed Italian menu while the other half changes daily. This is because a different grandmother comes in every day with not just a new menu but a completely new cuisine! The owner decided to run his restaurant like this as he had lost all maternal figures in his life and wanted to re-create the feeling of eating in his grandmother’s kitchen.
The German word “Kummerspeck” literally translates to “grief bacon” or “sorrow fat.” It refers to weight gain due to emotional eating.
This is one true animal myth: Eating parts of a pufferfish can kill you because, in a defence mechanism to ward off predators, it contains a deadly chemical called tetrodotoxin. There’s enough in one pufferfish to kill 30 people—and there’s no antidote. Still, pufferfish, called fugu, is a highly-prized delicacy in Japan, but can only be prepared by well-trained chefs.