Hatrack River Forum: Too Much Food (Fun Facts)

This is topic Too Much Food (Fun Facts) in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by BlueWizard (Member # 9389) on :

My brother is a bit of a trivia buff and he found out a couple of fun food facts.

Twinkies (Hostess)-

500,000,000 are manufactured per year

Holy crap, who is eating all those Twinkies?

The second most common baked snack was Moon Pies, which I think was something like 250,000,000/yr, though I don't remember precisely. I look in several local grocery stores and I couldn't even find Moon Pies. It must be a regional thing.

Now tonight my brother called me up and pointed out that the one single Lipton brand tea makes 1,000,000 tea bags per hour seven days a week. That is 8.76 BILLION tea bags per year, and they are only one brand. Imagine the total tea consumed by all the brands of tea in the world.

I can't even comprehend that much tea. I can't even imagine that there is enough land anywhere to produce that much tea. It's stunning.

Nutella (chocolate hazelnut butter - like peanut butter)

This single brand of 'spread' out sells all brands of peanut butter combined world wide. We consume a lot of peanut butter in the USA, that means that the rest of the world must be consuming Nutella at an astronomical pace. Also, keep in mind that Nutella, while certainly the most popular, is not the only brand of Chocolate Hazelnut Butter made.

A few fun food facts, for what it's worth.

Steve/BlueWizard

Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :

I was hoping for some tasty tidbits about how many animal and/or insect particles were allowed per unit of the product.

Posted by BlueWizard (Member # 9389) on :

Anybody know how many Jaffa Cakes are consumed each year? They seem very popular, almost a staple of childhood in Britian.

Just curious.

Steve/BlueWizard

Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :

aiua -- you're evil!

*hides eyes*

*sticks fingers in ears*

La, la, la, la, la, la . . .

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :

quote:
I can't even comprehend that much tea. I can't even imagine that there is enough land anywhere to produce that much tea. It's stunning.

The best tea is from Sri Lanka. It's pretty interesting - they're grown on terraces in the hilly regions with another tree, albecia, which is basically a growing compost fertilizer for the tea plants. Those hills (locals call them mountains - hah!) are pretty steep and really, I have a hard time imagining being able to pick those leaves without tumbling all the way down, but apparently, people do, all without the aid of climbing harnesses or the like. [/random useless tidbit]

Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :

Here, Shan, I found it for you.

quote:
PEANUT BUTTER

Insect filth
(AOAC 968.35) Average of 30 or more insect fragments per 100 grams

Rodent filth
(AOAC 968.35) Average of 1 or more rodent hairs per 100 grams

Grit
(AOAC 968.35) Gritty taste and water insoluble inorganic residue is more than 25 mg per 100 grams

Posted by dantesparadigm (Member # 8756) on :

What exactly qualifies filth... [Angst]

Like it even matters...

and it's not like I can split hairs when it comes to hairs.

I'd best forget this whole incident with some swet liquid amnesia.

Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :

I'm guessing by filth they mean anything that shouldn't be there.
Like, if they went about advertising that their product contained maggots or something, then it wouldn't be filth, it'd be a bonus.

Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :

*pours ambrosia all around*

*withholds aiua's*

I'll give you yours when you delete that disgusting filth . . . however, judging by some other threads, perhaps a little hair of the dog might be in order?

[Razz]

Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :

Sorry, Shan, it won't work. I'm too young to drink anyways.

Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :

Well then, what are you doing with a hangover, may I ask? *taps foot and shakes head*

I think you should still take back the PB nastiness. *shudders* And here's a rootbeer as a bribe.

Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :

I have no idea why!!!

Um, no. The nastiness stays. And I'm only drinking water and iced tea this week, neither of which is really adequate bribe material. [Big Grin]

Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :

Nutella is delicious. More Americans should try it.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

^ Very true.

Posted by BlueWizard (Member # 9389) on :

Nutella problems-

The problem with Nutella is that if I have a jar in the house, I just sit down with a spoon and eat the whole jar. Not a drop ever makes it to a piece of bread.

Gee...? No one is surprised by HALF A BILLION Twinkies?

Steve/BlueWizard

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :

Nutella is da bomb. [Smile]

Posted by Eduardo St. Elmo (Member # 9566) on :

While Nutella isn't bad, nothing beats peanut butter! [Big Grin]

Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :

I love Nutella, found out about it in my high school French class.

Love peanut butter too, don't care what's in it.

America, by the way, is the only nation on earth that loves ICED tea more than hot tea. It's also our least favorite drink behind soft drinks, sports drinks and liquor, whereas most countries have it as their favorite.

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :

In this country, if you don't drink tea, you're looked at like you was just beamed off the muthaship.

Posted by Eduardo St. Elmo (Member # 9566) on :

"All I can do is just pull some tea for two
and speak my point of view, though it's not sane" So even if ya do drink tea, sanity is not garanteed. [Wink]

Besides peanut butter, bread and water, tea is one of my favourite food stuffs (especially cinnamon flavour).

Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :

I like green tea with lots of honey. That and hot chocolate could sustain me for life.

Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :

Nutella cannot hold a candle to Duo Penotti (sorry, site appears to only be in Dutch). My wife bought me an imported pot for Christmas, and it's exactly as creamy and delicious as I remembered (haven't had any since 2002). By contrast, Nutella is thick, unspreadable, and (IMO) second-rate.

Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :

I don't eat twinkies. Somebody must be having my share.

Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :

Lyrhawn, sweetened iced tea, yes I can see how that can be gross.
But just tea and ice, no honey, sugar, lemon- that's fabulous.