Doctors in the UK recently reported the shocking case of a teenager whose vision has deteriorated to the point of blindness due to a poor diet based mainly on French fries, potato chips, processed meat and white bread.

The Bristol-based teenager, who preferred to remain anonymous, had reportedly been eating only French fries, Pringles chips and white bread, as well as the occasional sausage or ham slice, ever since he left primary school. His family describes him as a fussy eater who could never tolerate the texture of fruits or vegetables. He first went to see his doctors when he was 14, because he had been feeling tired and unwell, and was diagnosed with severe vitamin deficiency. The doctor put him on supplements and advised him to drastically change his diet, but he failed to do so and also neglected taking the supplements, and three years later he was diagnosed with progressive sight loss due to undernourishment.

Doctors at the Bristol Eye Hospital concluded that the teen’s poor diet caused him to suffer from nutritional optic neuropathy. This condition is treatable when diagnosed early, but in this particular case the fibers in his optic nerve had been so badly damaged that the sight loss has been deemed irreversible. As a consequence of the considerable sight loss, the now 19-year-old has quit college and is struggling to find a job.

Read More »

It sounds like the sarcastic name of a product you’d expect to hear in a satirical sitcom like The Simpsons, but Poop Like a Champion is an actual cereal that can allegedly get your bowls moving like nothing else.

Advertised as “the ultimate colon cleansing formula” or “the number one high fiber cereal for number 2’s”, Poop Like a Champion cereal is packed full of fibers and designed specifically to help you get those bowels moving. Its creators aren’t ashamed to admit that it’s not the greatest tasting cereal money can buy, but it’s not meant to blow you away with its amazing flavor, it’s meant to help you go potty, and apparently it’s very good at doing that. According to my limited research, it’s a combination of corn bran and physllium, sorghum flour and inulin, and each 1/2 cup serving contains 16 grams of fiber, or about 64% your recommended daily allowance for an average 2,000 calorie diet.

Read More »

If we were to make a global top 100 ice cream flavors list, hot-dog probably wouldn’t make the cut, but that hasn’t stopped American processed meat giant Oscar Mayer from announcing the launch of a hot-dog-flavored ice cream sandwich.

Shaking up the hot-dog scene seems like a tall order, but Oscar Mayer is willing to try with its soon-to-hit-the-shelves hot dog ice cream sandwich. Made up of sweet hot-dog cream, candied hot-dog bits, and spicy Dijon mustard gelato, all squeezed between two soft cookie buns, the upcoming treat is advertised as the best way to enjoy a hot-dog in ice cream form. It’s not clear if this is just a one-time marketing stunt or a permanent addition to the Oscar Mayer family of products, but one thing is for sure, hot-dog ice cream sandwich is a real thing.

Read More »

Wattana Panich is a one of the most popular restaurants in Bangkok’s Ekkamai neighborhood, with hundreds of hungry patrons coming in to feast on its selection of delicious soups and stews every day. But the secret of the flavorsome dishes served at this Thai eatery may put a lot of Westerners off.

One of the most popular dishes at Wattana Panich is the rich beef noodle soup, made with stewed and raw beef, tripe, meatballs, internal organs and spices. But the most important ingredient is the broth, which, believe it or not, has been simmering for 45 years. It sounds  strange, but it’s true. Instead of throwing away the leftover broth every night, the owners of Wattana Panich carefully strain it and store it to be used as the base for next day’s batch of soup. They’ve been doing this every day for over four decades and credit it as the main secret to their delicious dishes.

Read More »

Whether you’re the kind of person who gobbles up pizza slices just to get to the doughy crust as fast as possible, or you just can’t afford a full slice of pizza, you’re probably going this pizza chain’s ingenious new offering – Just the Crust.

Inspired by the frequent inquiries of its customers regarding the crust of its popular Neapolitan pizza and what makes it so delicious, Villa Italian Kitchen decided to give the people what they really want – just the crust. Starting tomorrow, the American pizza chain will start selling pizza crust pieces neatly packaged in triangular full slice boxes for only $2.75.

Read More »

It may be cute and tiny, but Lil’ Nitro is no joke. Sporting a Scoville rating reashing well into the millions of units, this chewy treat is 900 times hotter than a Jalapeno, making it the world’s hottest gummy bear.

After the world’s hottest lollipop and world’s hottest candy, the devious minds at Flamethrower Candy have created the world’s hottest gummy bear. Don’t be deceived by its cute and appealing appearance, as this little guy is holding a dynamite stick for a reason. It’s made with a special chili pepper extract that’s 900 times hotter than a Jalapeno pepper, and several times hotter than the Carolina Reaper, Dragon’s Breath and Pepper X, which are generally regarded as the hottest peppers on the planet.

Read More »

Finnish startup Solar Foods has come up with a way to produce a protein-rich food called Solein from electricity, water and air, by using an environment-friendly process similar to brewing beer.

Described as the world’s most environmentally friendly protein, Solein is is made by applying electricity to water to release bubbles of carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Living microbes are then added to the liquid to feed on the carbon dioxide and hydrogen bubbles and produce the Solein, which is then dried to make the powder. It’a natural fermentation process similar to beer brewing, but it requires a special reactor that reportedly resembles a hurricane lantern. The dried Solein has a protein content of 50 percent and looks and tastes just like wheat flour. It can be used in all kinds of diets and can be 3D-printed for added texture.

Read More »

A small food stall chain in Taiwan has been raising eyebrows due to the shape of its pancake pops. Instead of the usual round design their delicious creations are shaped like whole roasted chickens.

Walking past a YesMade food stall, you’d think it was selling miniature rotisserie chickens, but the Taiwanese fast food chain actually specializes in pancake pops. They are made from the same batter as regular pancakes, but they just happen to look like perfectly roasted chickens. YesMade achieves this illusion thanks to their custom-made pancake iron, which features small chicken-shaped molds. As you can imagine, the unique shape of their delicious creations has made YesMade a huge hit on Instagram.

Read More »

In most places around the world, people are taught that eating raw meat is bad for them due to the high risk of contacting parasites and harmful bacteria, but in Ethiopia raw meat is a popular delicacy.

Walking through the streets of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, it’s not uncommon to see groups of people gathered around restaurant tables feasting on chunks of raw beef or goat meat. Although particularly popular on holidays or various celebrations, like weddings, a lot of people consume raw meat virtually every day. They will tell you that raw meat is a hearty meal that energizes them and refreshes their bodies, as for the risks associated with eating uncooked meat, which include exposure to tapeworms and dangerous bacteria like salmonella and E-coli, most just choose to ignore them.

Read More »

A restaurant in the Italian town of Castelfranco Veneto has come up with an ingenious way to get a leg up on the competition – treating guests to a unique dish called “fried air”.

Nicola Dinato, the head chef at Feva Restaurant wanted to capture the essence of being outdoors and breathing fresh air in an dish aptly called “aria fritta” or “fried air”. The name is a tad misleading, as the crispy treats are actually made of tapioca skin that’s first baked and then deep fried. However, there’s some air involved in the cooking process as well, or at least a component of it – ozone. After the tapioca skin is baked and fried, it is infused with ozone for 10 minutes, which gives the treats a special perfume. After the special infusion, the crispy fried air is placed on a bed of cotton candy, which Dinato hopes will remind patrons of clouds.

Read More »

Apples are generally red, green, yellow or a combination of the three, but if the right geographical conditions are met, they can apparently grow dark purple, almost black, as well. These rare apples are called Black Diamond and they are currently only grown in the mountains of Tibet.

Black Diamond apples are a breed of Hua Niu apples (also known as Chinese Red Delicious) that get their unique dark purple color from the geographical conditions of Nyingchi, in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The 50-hectare orchard set up her by Chinese company Dandong Tianluo Sheng Nong E-Commerce Trade Co., Ltd. has an elevation of 3100 meters above sea level, making it the ideal place to grow these intriguing fruit. The temperature differences between day and night are significant, and the fruits get a lot of sunlight and ultraviolet light which causes their skin to go from the characteristic deep red of Hua Niu apples, to dark purple.

Read More »

A cheese maker from the Emmental region of Switzerland has been experimenting with various musical genres to see if they can make his cheese taste better.

Since September, cheese maker Beat Wampfler has been blasting musical masterpieces by legends such as Led Zeppelin and A Tribe Called Quest to his wheels of Emmental cheese, hoping to prove that music can influence the development, characteristics and, most importantly, the flavor of the cheese. He is convinced that humidity, temperature and nutrients are not the only things that can have an impact on the taste of cheese, and that sounds, ultrasounds and music can make an impact on flavor as well.

Read More »

Pinhead’s Pizza, a popular pizza place in Dublin, Ireland, is offering fans of the Italian delicacy the chance to fill their bellies and their pockets at the same time. Anyone who can finish their 32-inch pizza and down two milkshakes in under 32 minutes is guaranteed a prize of 500 euros.

When Anthony Kelly, the owner of Pinhead’s Pizza, put the 32-inch pie on the menu of his restaurant in 2015, it didn’t really have a name and was simply called “Ireland’s largest pizza. Since then, he settled on a proper name for it – The Notorious Pizza – a fitting one considering that no one has been able to finish one, although many have tried. In the beginning, Kelly offered challengers a voucher for 50 euros plus the pizza for free if they managed to finish the whole thing and wash it down with two milkshakes in under 32 minutes. Since then, he has become so confident that his challenge is unbeatable that he is offering a 500 euros prize to anyone who beats it.

Read More »

Ningen, a pop-up restaurant in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district, attracted a lot of media attention over the last two weeks for giving patrons the chance to order the last meals requested by infamous death row inmates before their execution.

The controversial eatery was opened by a Japanese art collective called Chim↑Pom and for two weeks served the last meals of infamous American criminals like armed robber and double-murderer Gary Mark Gilmore, Judy Buonoano, Florida’s “Black Widow”, or real-life killer clown John Wayne Gacy.

Read More »

Angulas, the Spanish word for baby eels is one of Spain’s most expensive foods, but no one seems to understand why. They hardly have any taste at all, their texture is best described as slimy and they look like limp worms on a plate. So why are people paying hundreds of euros to eat angulas at expensive restaurants?

Legend has it that in the past angulas were used as fodder for chickens and pigs, and there is historical evidence that they were once a staple food of the working class in northern Spain. But today they sell for astronomical prices of up to 1,000 euros ($1,150) per kilo, so only the richest of the rich can afford them. So what happened? Well, scarcity definitely played a big part in their surprising transformation. River dams, the general degradation of the environment and overfishing have seriously affected the baby eel population, and the rarer they got the more expensive they became. They may not taste like anything, but apparently many people like to act like snobs every once in a while, so they pay a premium to enjoy a food that most people can’t afford.

Read More »