And you thought Regis Philbin's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire show was full of amazing trivia! Below are fun, and perhaps, ridiculous, facts on food that may leave you wondering, who researches this stuff??? Take it, leave it, or talk about it at the water cooler. It's up to you!

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• Americans eat 20.7 pounds of candy per person annually. The Dutch eat three times as much. **

• Americans spend approximately $25 billion each year on beer.**

• Aunt Jemima pancake flour, invented in 1889, was the first ready-mix food to be sold commercially.**

• Capsaicin, which makes hot peppers "hot" to the human mouth, is best neutralized by casein, the main protein found in milk.**

• China's Beijing Duck Restaurant can seat 9,000 people at once.**

• Each American eats an average of 51 pounds of chocolate per year.**

• Fried chicken is the most popular meal ordered in sit-down restaurants in the US. The next in popularity are: roast beef, spaghetti, turkey, baked ham, and fried shrimp.**

• In 1995 KFC sold 11 pieces of chicken for every man, woman and child in the US.**

• In the United States, a pound of potato chips costs two hundred times more than a pound of potatoes.**

• Nabisco's "Oreo's" are the worlds best selling brand of cookie at a rate of 6 billion sold each year. The first Oreo was sold in 1912.**

• Refried beans aren't really what they seem. Although their name seems like a reasonable translation of Spanish's frijoles refritos, the fact is that these beans aren't fried twice. In Spanish, refritos, literally means "well-fried," not "re-fried."**

• Rice is the staple food of more than one-half of the world's population.**

• Sliced bread was introduced under the Wonder bread label in 1930.**

• Tequila is made from the root of the blue agave cactus.**

• The color of a chile is not the indication of its spiciness, but size usually is. The smaller the pepper, the hotter it is. The hottest chile in the world is the habanero.**

• The vintage date on a bottle of wine indicates the year the grapes were picked, not the year of bottling.**

• Vanilla is the extract of fermented and dried pods of several species of orchids.**

• When honey is swallowed, it enters the blood stream within a period of 20 minutes.**

• Laws forbidding the sale of sodas on Sunday prompted William Garwood to invent the ice cream sundae in Evanston, IL, in 1975. **
• Large doses of Coffee can be lethal. Ten grams, or 100 cups over 4 hours can kill the average human. **
• McDonalds and Burger King sugarcoat their fries so they will turn golden-brown.**
• Research shows that only 43% of homemade dinners served in the US include vegetables. **
• The average Child will eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by high school graduation.**
• The dye to stamp the grade on meat is edible. It is made from grape skins.**
• The pound cake got its name from the pound of butter it contained.** Care for a healthier alternative, try our pound cake mix.
• Chocolate contains phenyl ethylamine (PEA), a natural substance that is reputed to stimulate the same reaction in the body as falling in love. **
• California's Fran Epperson invented the Popsicle in 1905 when he was 11 years old.**

• Every second, 13 boxes of Jell-O® brand gelatin are being sold in the U.S.* For great tasting, lower costing gelatin, go to our online store.
• It's been reported actor Brad Pitt's favorite candy is Twizzlers® brand licorice.* For more star-studded candies, click here.
• Baby Boomers are 'Baby Ruthers'? It's estimated roughly 1/3 of all candy bars are eaten by people over age 50.*
• Did you know that most 7-layer cakes only have 4 or 5 layers?*
• When you think ice cream, what do you think is the main ingredient? Milk, sugar, vanilla bean perhaps? Actually, air is an essential ingredient of ice cream. Without air, ice cream would be chewy instead of creamy.*
• The number one most popular flavor of ice cream is vanilla.*
• Viva la chocolate! A recent study at the University of California finds a chocolate bar contains the same amount of antioxidants as a glass of red wine. Meaning, while it's a calorie dense food, chocolate can actually be good for you in lowering cholesterol and decreasing your risk of heard disease! (source: Sun-Sentinel)
• The average American eats 12 pounds of chocolate each year. (source: Science and Technology News Network)
• Crash-test dummies take on a whole new meaning when it comes to food. A recent study conducted at the Institute of Food Research in the United Kingdom found women on crash diets and very low-calorie diets, displayed "...poor reaction speed, lower short-term memory and a diminished attention span. (source: Cooking Light October 2000)
• Guess what snack food got included in the US millenium time capsule? The only snack food that could last a millenium! The Hostess Twinkies®! (source: www.twinkies.com)

* Fun Fact came from www.funtrivia.com
** www.corsinet.com