The Supermarket Gourmet, by Buck Reed
As a big time, professional food writer and a general culinary know-it-all, I am often called upon to debunk many of the food myths that seem to permeate not just the internet, but the world at large. My interest in not only history, but how the mechanics of a con works has always been a great interest of mine. And with April Fools Day right around the corner, I don’t expect these stories to stop anytime soon.
I actually got this one the other day, concerning onions, and how once they are cut, they are highly susceptible to germs and other pathogens, to the point that they actually become poisonous. The question was posed by a good friend of mine, one whom I consider to be of well-above average intelligence. She should have been able to work this through in her own mind. After all, she was in the food service industry; even though she was a server, she must have seen onions cut up and stored in the refrigerator. Yet, it didn’t matter what she knew or didn’t know, she saw the article on the internet that claimed leftover onions are poisonous. For the record, onions, when treated properly, are no more dangerous than any other leftover food product. That is to say, if your work surface and your hands are clean, you cover and refrigerate them, and they are used in a reasonable amount of time, it is perfectly okay to consume them.
Another popular internet hoax is the story of margarine and its relationship to turkeys. It goes something like this: margarine was invented as a food supplement for turkeys to fatten them up. But, when it started killing off turkeys, the investors were desperate to make their money back and decided to market it for people to eat. Actually, margarine was created in 1869, during the Franco-Prussian War. The French government was looking for a cheap substitute for butter that would have a better shelf life and offered a hefty prize to anyone who could develop one. For a brief period, margarine was marketed as being healthier than butter, but notice they don’t do that anymore. Depending on who you talk to, margarine is not any better for you than butter and, according to some sources, might actually be worse for you.
Even magazines are falling for these hoaxes. Take Robin Goldstein, a prominent restaurant critic, who wanted to prove how easy it is to win a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. This award is given to restaurants with the best wine lists. So, he submitted his wine list from the Osteria L’Intrepido in Milan and paid the $250 entrance fee. After careful consideration (or very little consideration), the Wine Spectator awarded them a prize. Unfortunately for them, there is no such wine list, as the restaurant itself does not exist.
So, before you try to charge your cell phone with an onion soaked in Gatorade or go to the grocery store looking for a purple watermelon, maybe you should do a little research. Just look around on the internet to see if the internet story is true. That’s what I did.
