Did You Know – More Fun Food Facts – 3/11/25

Food is such a fascinating subject, at least for me. The more I learn the more I want to learn. And believe me, there is always something new to learn. Here are some fun food facts. Maybe you know them, but chances are, most of us, myself included, don’t. Hopefully we all learn something new and have some fun while we’re at it. 🙂

1. MacDonald’s is so popular that a burger is sold every second of every day. That’s a whole lot of burgers!

2. An average ear of corn has an even number of rows, usually 16. Each cob (or ear) tends to have between 750 and 1000 potential kernels, but only 400 to 600 usually come to fruition. Kernel rows begin as ridges of cells that eventually differentiate into pairs of rows, hence why there’s always an even number of rows per corn cob. The amount of rows, though, stays consistent because it is determined strongly by plant genetics.

3. You can tell the difference between cheap pasta and expensive pasta by looking at them. Texture and wheat quality are the primary differences between pastas. If you closely examine low-cost pasta, you’ll notice that they are almost shiny and incredibly smooth ― that’s the work of the Teflon die.

To save even more time and produce large quantities of pasta, mass manufacturers then quickly dry the pasta, sometimes for only a few hours, before boxing it and shipping it. This ruins the texture entirely. The smooth pasta never fully marries to the sauce, and the quick dry time requires a faster cook time.

The best pastas are made with grano duro, or durum wheat semolina. This type of pasta yields to a firmer texture overall and looks heartier just by looking at it before it is cooked. The cheaper pastas only the semolina flour variety found in the other brands. This one has an almost yellow or orange appearance. The raw pasta is almost see-through and very fragile. The ones with grano duro, or durum wheat semolina held their shape, remained al dente, and didn’t fall apart in the sauce, or get mushy. The other kind, well, not so much. They fall apart and are mushy.

4. Humans and bananas share 40% of the same DNA.

5. The probability of you drinking a glass of water that contains a molecule of water that also passed through a dinosaur is almost 100%. While most water molecules in an eight-ounce glass were never been consumed by another person, almost every single molecule has been drunk by a dinosaur. Like humans, dinosaurs also released all water that they drunk, then they drink anew.

So did you learn anything new? I did. There is always something new to learn. Never stop learning. Learning is fun and it helps keep us young. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.