Food Trivia | 100 did you know trivia & facts about Food [Part 4]

Now that we have found out about the history of food and the many different kinds of food that is around, it’s time to find out some more about how we understand taste.

So let’s dive deeper into this topic and some more.

Animals, specifically humans, have five different types of tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami
As animals have evolved, the tastes that provide the most energy (sugar and fats) are the most pleasant to eat while others, such as bitter, are not enjoyable
Water, while important for survival, has no taste
Fats, on the other hand, especially saturated fats, are thicker and rich and are thus considered more enjoyable to eat
Generally regarded as the most pleasant taste, sweetness is almost always caused by a type of simple sugar such as glucose or fructose, or disaccharides such as sucrose, a molecule combining glucose and fructose
Complex carbohydrates are long chains and thus do not have the sweet taste
Artificial sweeteners such as sucralose are used to mimic the sugar molecule, creating the sensation of sweet, without the calories
Other types of sugar include raw sugar, which is known for its amber color, as it is unprocessed
As sugar is vital for energy and survival, the taste of sugar is pleasant
The stevia plant contains a compound known as steviol which, when extracted, has 300 times the sweetness of sugar while having minimal impact on blood sugar
Sourness is caused by the taste of acids, such as vinegar in alcoholic beverages
Sour foods include citrus, specifically lemons, limes, and to a lesser degree oranges
Sour is evolutionarily significant as it is a sign for a food that may have gone rancid due to bacteria
Many foods, however, are slightly acidic, and help stimulate the taste buds and enhance flavor
Saltiness is the taste of alkali metal ions such as sodium and potassium
It is found in almost every food in low to moderate proportions to enhance flavor, although to eat pure salt is regarded as highly unpleasant
There are many different types of salt, with each having a different degree of saltiness, including sea salt, fleur de sel, kosher salt, mined salt, and grey salt
Other than enhancing flavor, its significance is that the body needs and maintains a delicate electrolyte balance, which is the kidney’s function
Salt may be iodized, meaning iodine has been added to it, a necessary nutrient that promotes thyroid function
Some canned foods, notably soups or packaged broths, tend to be high in salt as a means of preserving the food longer
Historically salt has long been used as a meat preservative as salt promotes water excretion
Similarly, dried foods also promote food safety
Bitterness is a sensation often considered unpleasant characterized by having a sharp, pungent taste
Unsweetened dark chocolate, caffeine, lemon rind, and some types of fruit are known to be bitter
Umami, the Japanese word for delicious, is the least known in Western popular culture but has a long tradition in Asian cuisine
Umami is the taste of glutamates, especially monosodium glutamate (MSG)
It is characterized as savory, meaty, and rich in flavor
Salmon and mushrooms are foods high in umami
Restaurants employ chefs to prepare the food, and waiters to serve customers at the table
The term restaurant comes from an old term for a restorative meat broth
This broth (or bouillon) was served in elegant outlets in Paris from the mid 18th century
These refined “restaurants” were a marked change from the usual basic eateries such as inns and taverns, and some had developed from early Parisian cafés, such as Café Procope, by first serving bouillon, then adding other cooked food to their menus
Commercial eateries existed during the Roman period, with evidence of 150 “thermopolia”, a form of fast food restaurant, found in Pompeii
Urban sales of prepared foods may have existed in China during the Song dynasty
In 2005, the population of the United States spent $496 billion on out-of-home dining
Expenditures by type of out-of-home dining were as follows: 40% in full-service restaurants, 37.2% in limited service restaurants (fast food), 6.6% in schools or colleges, 5.4% in bars and vending machines, 4.7% in hotels and motels, 4.0% in recreational places, and 2.2% in others, which includes military bases
Packaged foods are manufactured outside the home for purchase
This can be as simple as a butcher preparing meat, or as complex as a modern international food industry
Early food processing techniques were limited by available food preservation, packaging, and transportation
This mainly involved salting, curing, curdling, drying, pickling, fermenting, and smoking
Food manufacturing arose during the industrial revolution in the 19th century
This development took advantage of new mass markets and emerging technology, such as milling, preservation, packaging and labeling, and transportation
It brought the advantages of pre-prepared time-saving food to the bulk of ordinary people who did not employ domestic servants
At the start of the 21st century, a two-tier structure has arisen, with a few international food processing giants controlling a wide range of well-known food brands
There also exists a wide array of small local or national food processing companies
Advanced technologies have also come to change food manufacture
Computer-based control systems, sophisticated processing and packaging methods, and logistics and distribution advances can enhance product quality, improve food safety, and reduce costs
The World Bank reported that the European Union was the top food importer in 2005, followed at a distance by the US and Japan
Britain’s need for food was especially well illustrated in World War II
Despite the implementation of food rationing, Britain remained dependent on food imports and the result was a long term engagement in the Battle of the Atlantic
Food is traded and marketed on a global basis
The variety and availability of food is no longer restricted by the diversity of locally grown food or the limitations of the local growing season
Between 1961 and 1999, there was a 400% increase in worldwide food exports
Some countries are now economically dependent on food exports, which in some cases account for over 80% of all exports
In 1994, over 100 countries became signatories to the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in a dramatic increase in trade liberalization
This included an agreement to reduce subsidies paid to farmers, underpinned by the WTO enforcement of agricultural subsidy, tariffs, import quotas, and settlement of trade disputes that cannot be bilaterally resolved
Where trade barriers are raised on the disputed grounds of public health and safety, the WTO refer the dispute to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which was founded in 1962 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization
Trade liberalization has greatly affected world food trade
Food marketing brings together the producer and the consumer
The marketing of even a single food product can be a complicated process involving many producers and companies
For example, fifty-six companies are involved in making one can of chicken noodle soup
These businesses include not only chicken and vegetable processors but also the companies that transport the ingredients and those who print labels and manufacture cans
The food marketing system is the largest direct and indirect non-government employer in the United States
In the pre-modern era, the sale of surplus food took place once a week when farmers took their wares on market day into the local village marketplace
Here food was sold to grocers for sale in their local shops for purchase by local consumers
With the onset of industrialization and the development of the food processing industry, a wider range of food could be sold and distributed in distant locations
Typically early grocery shops would be counter-based shops, in which purchasers told the shop-keeper what they wanted, so that the shop-keeper could get it for them
In the 20th century, supermarkets were born
Supermarkets brought with them a self service approach to shopping using shopping carts, and were able to offer quality food at lower cost through economies of scale and reduced staffing costs
In the latter part of the 20th century, this has been further revolutionized by the development of vast warehouse-sized, out-of-town supermarkets, selling a wide range of food from around the world
Unlike food processors, food retailing is a two-tier market in which a small number of very large companies control a large proportion of supermarkets
The supermarket giants wield great purchasing power over farmers and processors, and strong influence over consumers
Nevertheless, less than 10% of consumer spending on food goes to farmers, with larger percentages going to advertising, transportation, and intermediate corporations
It is rare for price spikes to hit all major foods in most countries at once, but food prices suffered all-time peaks in 2008 and 2011, posting a 15% and 12% deflated increase year-over-year, representing prices higher than any data collected
One reason for the increase in food prices may be the increase in oil prices at the same time
In December 2007, 37 countries faced food crises, and 20 had imposed some sort of food-price controls
In China, the price of pork jumped 58% in 2007. In the 1980s and 1990s, farm subsidies and support programs allowed major grain exporting countries to hold large surpluses, which could be tapped during food shortages to keep prices down
However, new trade policies had made agricultural production much more responsive to market demands, putting global food reserves at their lowest since 1983
Rising food prices in those years have been linked with social unrest around the world, including rioting in Bangladesh and Mexico, and the Arab Spring
Food prices worldwide increased in 2008
One cause of rising food prices is wealthier Asian consumers are westernizing their diets, and farmers and nations of the third world are struggling to keep up the pace
The past five years have seen rapid growth in the contribution of Asian nations to the global fluid and powdered milk manufacturing industry, which in 2008 accounted for more than 30% of production
While China alone accounts for more than 10% of both production and consumption in the global fruit and vegetable processing and preserving industry
In 2013 Overseas Development Institute researchers showed that rice has more than doubled in price since 2000, rising by 120% in real terms
This was as a result of shifts in trade policy and restocking by major producers
More fundamental drivers of increased prices are the higher costs of fertiliser, diesel and labour
Parts of Asia see rural wages rise with potential large benefits for the 1.3 billion (2008 estimate) of Asia’s poor in reducing the poverty they face
However, this negatively impacts more vulnerable groups who don’t share in the economic boom, especially in Asian and African coastal cities
The researchers said the threat means social-protection policies are needed to guard against price shocks
The research proposed that in the longer run, the rises present opportunities to export for Western African farmers with high potential for rice production to replace imports with domestic production
Most recently, global food prices have been more stable and relatively low, after a sizable increase in late 2017
They are back under 75% of the nominal value seen during the all-time high in the 2011 food crisis
Food aid can benefit people suffering from a shortage of food. It can be used to improve peoples’ lives in the short term, so that a society can increase its standard of living to the point that food aid is no longer required
Conversely, badly managed food aid can create problems by disrupting local markets, depressing crop prices, and discouraging food production. Sometimes a cycle of food aid dependence can develop
Its provision, or threatened withdrawal, is sometimes used as a political tool to influence the policies of the destination country, a strategy known as food politics
Sometimes, food aid provisions will require certain types of food be purchased from certain sellers, and food aid can be misused to enhance the markets of donor countries
International efforts to distribute food to the neediest countries are often coordinated by the World Food Programme
Food deprivation leads to malnutrition and ultimately starvation
This is often connected with famine, which involves the absence of food in entire communities
This can have a devastating and widespread effect on human health and mortality