Food Facts & Fun

Sometimes it seems as if processed meats (like the pastrami on your late-night sandwich) don't last long. But all those preservatives do serve a purpose - you'll be able to eat that pastrami days after your home-cooked chicken has gone bye-bye.

By Laurie L. Dove

If you can't get enough of starchy foods, you don't need to limit yourself to potatoes and squash. Fruits have starch, too! We'll tell you why, and also reveal the starchiest fruit of them all.

By Laurie L. Dove

Meal kits are becoming increasingly popular. Learn more about meal kits in this video from HowStuffWorks.

A few years ago, hardly anyone could pronounce this product correctly. Now, it's a well-known nutritional superstar, available in almost any supermarket and a common substitute for rice. Why is quinoa so hot?

By Alia Hoyt

People have always had a thing for sparkling water, but it wasn't easy to reproduce the effervescence found naturally in some springs. Why was it so hard to create carbonated water and how did the product gave birth to the soda fountain?

By Dave Roos

With its extended expiration date and super portability, it's no wonder people have been relying on dehydrated food for centuries. But is it any healthier for us?

By Clint Pumphrey

Stuffed full of vitamins and minerals - not to mention fats, carbs and proteins - Soylent can replace all those meals you're tired of making. But would you want it to?

By Jeff Harder

Junk food is a miracle of edible engineering. Food scientists have figured out how to trick our brains into eating all that salt, sugar and fat without thinking about the calories. How do they do it? While you're learning, I'll get some Ding Dongs.

By Dave Roos

Salt and MSG don't just make things taste saltier - they brighten the flavors of almost any food. But how can the same ingredient make chocolate taste sweeter, take the bitterness out of grapefruit and make cream soup taste thicker?

By Dave Roos

If you'd love to eat ice cream all day, maybe you can put that desire to work as a food taster. Or maybe not. The job requires more than a love of eating, and could involve sampling dog food.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

Figuring out how many people a farmer's work feeds is more complicated than you may think. Agriculture has many variables that affect farm output - what are they?

By Maria Trimarchi

Americans tend to think of their Puritan forebears as abstemious killjoys. But the truth is, they drank far more liquor than Americans of today. What other alcohol-related fact bubbles can we burst for you?

By Patrick J. Kiger

We're used to looking at the expiration date for milk but what about beer? While some brands proudly display their beers' "date of birth," others hide it with some cryptic codes. Does the date affect the taste?

By Laurie L. Dove

If bananas are your favorite fruit, you may soon pick up a bunch that just seems ... different somehow. The culprit: a fungus that's killing the Cavendish.

By Laurie L. Dove

As the old saying goes, appearances can be deceiving. Most of us use price, the label on the bottle and vintage to prejudge a wine's quality. But do expensive wines actually taste better, or is it all just sour grapes?

By Laurie L. Dove

If beer commercials are accurate, you can knock back plenty of brewskis without worrying about weight gain. Yet the existence of beer bellies proves otherwise.

By Laurie L. Dove

Wine lovers are sometimes called snobby, in part because they seem to speak a language of their own. Yet, their beloved beverage likely had some humble beginnings.

By Laurie L. Dove

If fears of botulism have scared you away from home canning, you may also be hesitant to whip up your own fermented cabbage. Is it worth the worry?

By Debra Ronca

When it comes to certain foods, self-control is a near impossibility. You can eat and eat (and eat) without ever feeling full. And you have your brain to blame.

By Debra Ronca

When a food gets the sweet-to-salty ratio just right, it's quite the recipe for pleasure. Salted caramel is one flavor that hits all the right taste buds. Leave it to a Frenchman to create the perfect sweet.

By Debra Ronca

The marriage of salty and sweet is one that shouldn't work but magically does. Our tongues recognize flavors for a reason -- and when it comes to sweet and salty, biology is hard at work.

By Debra Ronca

Healthy food fads come and go. Smoothies, however, stand the test of time. The latest variation for 2014? One you don't sip with a straw.

By Debra Ronca

The next time you find yourself on the couch with your hand in an empty bag of chips, blame science. Researchers study exactly what it takes to keep you munching.

By Debra Ronca

From intense craving to shame over loss of control - this is the life of the chocoholic. Is the term chocoholic just a joke, or does science say there's something to it?

By Debra Ronca

That microwavable Panang curry and sack of frozen corn dogs didn't become possible overnight. Check out these 10 game-changers from the epic history of the TV dinner.

By Patrick J. Kiger