Here are a some fun facts about a few of America's favorite junk foods…
1. Have you ever wondered what the M’s stand for in M&M’s?
The Answer: Mars & Murrie. Forrest Mars, Sr. (of the Mars
candy company) teamed up with Bruce Murrie (of the Hershey chocolate company) in 1941 to
make a hard shelled candy with chocolate in the center. The two paired up for
this endeavor since there was a projected shortage in chocolate. Thus, we get
our famous M&M’s.
2. Pringles aren’t really potato chips?
Pringles only have 42% of potato
based content, therefore, the FDA deemed them to not be classified as potato
chips. Because of this, the makers of Pringles initially named them "Pringles Nefangled Potato Chips," which didn't last very long. And now they are instead called crisps since the major components of
Pringles are wheat starch and various types of flour.
3. Snickers… What a weird name. I wonder where it came from…
Well, since you asked. The name Snickers came from a horse.
That’s right, Snickers is named after a horse. The favorite horse of the
Snickers inventor himself, Frank Mars, founder of Mars, Inc.
4. What makes Pop Rocks pop?
When Pop Rocks are being made, they are exposed to a vast
amount of Carbon Dioxide that creates little highly pressurized bubbles inside
the candy as it hardens. As soon as saliva hits the candy and starts to
dissolve it, the bubbles of Carbon Dioxide are exposed which makes the candy pop, and jump around
your mouth.
5. How many licks DOES it take to get to the center of a
Tootsie Pop?
Ahh… the age-old question. It has been scientifically proven
(yes, scientists actually conducted experiments for this) that it takes the
average adult 250 licks, if concentrating on one side of the candy only, and it
would take about 500 licks if licking both sides evenly.
Everyone eats junk food now and then. What’s your favorite
to snack on? Was your favorite guilty pleasure listed? Do you know any
fun facts about junk foods not listed here? Leave us a comment…
