Quiz of the Day
National Junk Food Day
Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Chips, chocolate, and the science of why we can't stop — the surprising world of snacks and junk food
1. What is the 'bliss point' in food science?
- The temperature at which food tastes best
- The exact calorie count that maximises satiety
- The moment when flavour complexity peaks
- The optimal combination of salt, fat, and sugar that maximises pleasure
Food scientist Howard Moskowitz coined the term in the 1970s. Companies spend millions calibrating the bliss point for each product — not too sweet, not too salty, just enough to be maximally craveable. The concept, exposed in Michael Moss's 2013 book 'Salt Sugar Fat,' sparked debate about whether food engineering is essentially addiction by design.
2. Which substance in chips triggers the 'crunch' sound that research shows makes food seem fresher and more appealing?
- The fat content
- Water molecules in the snack
- The salt coating
- Air pockets in the starch structure
Psychologist Charles Spence discovered that people rate crisps/chips as tastier when they're louder to bite — even when the crisp itself is identical. This led to 'sonic seasoning' research, finding that sound dramatically affects taste perception. Headphone experiments proved that the same food tastes different when different sounds play.
3. Coca-Cola was originally invented by Dr. John Pemberton in 1886 as what?
- A performance enhancer for athletes
- A headache remedy
- A children's energy drink
- An alternative to alcohol during Prohibition
Pemberton marketed Coca-Cola as a 'brain tonic and intellectual beverage' for nervous disorders and headaches. The original formula contained cocaine from coca leaves and caffeine from kola nuts. Cocaine was removed around 1903; the formula still contains decocainized coca leaf extract, making it technically the only legal US importer of coca leaves.
4. Pringles are not technically potato chips under US law. What are they legally classified as?
- Vegetable crisps
- Corn snacks
- Wheat-based crisps
- Reconstituted potato products
Pringles are made from a dough of dehydrated potato flakes, wheat starch, and other ingredients — only about 42% potato by content. In a UK court case over import taxes, Pringles initially argued they weren't potato chips (trying to avoid higher tax), lost, then appealed and won the right to be classified differently. The case created bizarre legal precedents.
5. The world's best-selling snack brand globally is estimated to be what?
- Oreo
- Lay's
- Cheetos
- Doritos
Lay's potato chips, owned by PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division, are sold in over 200 countries under different names (Walker's in the UK, Sabritas in Mexico). The global potato chips market is worth over $30 billion annually. Despite this, the flavour offerings vary wildly — Lay's has sold cucumber, seaweed, and hot pot flavours in China.
6. McDonald's french fries were famous for being fried in beef tallow until which decade, when they switched to vegetable oil?
- 1990s
- 2000s
- 1980s
- 1970s
McDonald's switched from beef tallow to vegetable oil in 1990 under pressure from health advocates. However, to maintain flavour, they added 'natural beef flavour' to their fry coating — a fact not publicised and discovered later. This led to lawsuits from vegetarians and Hindus who had assumed the fries were vegetarian after the switch.
7. Which artificial flavour chemical, known as 'isoamyl acetate,' gives banana candy its distinctive taste that tastes nothing like real bananas?
- It's actually artificial watermelon flavour
- It was designed for a different fruit entirely
- It mimics an older banana variety that's now almost extinct
- It's a chemical by-product of the manufacturing process
Banana candy was developed when the Gros Michel variety dominated global banana production. Gros Michel had an intensely sweet, creamy flavour well-captured by isoamyl acetate. A 1950s Panama disease fungus nearly wiped out Gros Michel entirely, replacing it with the blander Cavendish variety we eat today — but the candy flavour was already embedded in culture.
8. Which US snack food was invented by accident when a chef angrily threw a thinly sliced potato into hot oil after a customer complained his fries were too thick?
- Potato chips
- Fritos
- Ruffles
- Cheetos
The story credits George Crum at Moon's Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1853. Whether the legend is true is disputed — similar recipes predate this account — but Saratoga Chips became famous. Industrial production began in the 1920s when Herman Lay began selling chips from his car across the American South.
9. The term 'junk food' was first popularised by which consumer advocate in the early 1970s?
- Frances Moore Lappé
- Michael Jacobson
- Marion Nestle
- Ralph Nader
Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest coined 'junk food' around 1972 to describe foods with high calories but low nutritional value. The term was initially controversial — food industry lobbyists objected to the moral implication. It's now universal, though nutritionists note it's not a precise scientific category.
10. Chocolate contains a compound called theobromine that is toxic to dogs. What does theobromine do in humans?
- Acts as a sleep inducer
- Has no measurable effect
- Causes mild hallucinations at high doses
- Acts as a mild stimulant and mood elevator
Theobromine is a mild stimulant and vasodilator (it widens blood vessels). Dogs metabolise it much more slowly than humans, so even small amounts can be fatal. In humans, the pleasant effects of theobromine — along with sugar, fat, and the release of dopamine — are thought to contribute to chocolate's addictive quality.
11. What is the most commonly eaten snack in the world?
- Chocolate
- Nuts
- Potato chips
- Cheese crackers
By value and volume, chocolate is the world's most widely consumed snack. Global chocolate confectionery is a $130 billion+ market. Despite this, 70% of the world's cacao is grown by small farmers in West Africa (primarily Ivory Coast and Ghana), who often earn less than $2 per day — a supply chain justice issue that has prompted growing 'fair trade' certification demand.
12. The 'Doritos effect' describes what nutritional phenomenon?
- Calorie overconsumption when portion sizes are large
- The false sense of fullness from airy snacks
- The inability to stop eating once a bag is opened
- The tendency to eat more when flavour is intensely artificial
Research shows that very intensely flavoured foods — like Doritos — disrupt the normal sensory-specific satiety response (where one food's flavour becomes less appealing as you eat more). The extreme flavour constantly stimulates craving, making portion control harder. Food manufacturers are aware of this and calibrate flavour intensity accordingly.
13. How many calories does the average bag of popcorn at a US movie theatre contain?
- 300-400 calories
- 500-700 calories
- 1,500-2,000 calories
- 1,000-1,200 calories
A large movie theatre popcorn with butter typically contains 1,000-1,200 calories — roughly half an adult's daily recommended intake in one sitting. The container sizes grew dramatically from the 1950s to the 1990s as cinemas realised concessions were more profitable than ticket sales. Today, concessions can account for 40% of cinema revenue.
14. Flamin' Hot Cheetos were supposedly invented by a janitor at Frito-Lay who pitched the idea to the CEO. This story inspired a film but is it true?
- Almost entirely false — it's a marketing myth
- Mostly true with embellishments
- Entirely true
- Disputed, with some evidence on both sides
Richard Montañez, the janitor in question, claimed for decades to have invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos. In 2021, a Los Angeles Times investigation found internal Frito-Lay documents showing the product was developed by a team of food scientists and marketers — Montañez had no documented involvement. However, his story inspired a generation of Hispanic entrepreneurs before the investigation.
15. Which country consumes the most fast food per capita in the world?
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- Australia
The US remains the world's largest fast food consumer per capita, spending over $200 billion annually on fast food. About 36% of American adults eat fast food on any given day. The fast food industry also employs over 5 million Americans — making it one of the nation's largest private employers.