# Childhood food misconceptions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823 "2015-12-31T15:46:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/101 "2016-01-11T16:06:27Z")
> [@Red\_Stilettos](#): > > This is awesome! I’ll think of this every time I see a boullion cube. Not entirely on topic, but an amusing story: We hosted some Japanese students. At one point, my wife set up a party where they could show off some non-standard Japanese cuisine. During the course of preparation, one of the girls came to me almost in tears because she had forgotten that her recipe required “special Japanese seasoning”. ☹ I asked her to describe it, and maybe we could find a substitute. She said it was called “kon-soh-may”. Knowing that Japanese is big on using “loan words”, this lit up a bulb over my head. I asked her if it was maybe beef or chicken flavor and came in a little cube? “Yes-yes-yes!” :dubious: “Special Japanese seasoning”. Yeah, right. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/102 "2016-01-11T16:14:16Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I was kind of shocked when I discovered that See’s Mincemeat Cream candies (which I don’t think they make anymore) included beef in the ingredients. I immediately flashed on the Monty Python “Crunchy Frog” routine. “If we took the bones out it wouldn’t be crunchy would it?” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/103 "2016-01-11T16:22:49Z")
I’ve shared this one here before: When I was very young, I asked my mother how margarine was made. She told me that it was made out of oil. I spent too many years mildly repulsed by the fact that we were eating a petroleum product, because, when I had asked, that was the only kind of oil I knew anything about. It didn’t stop me from spreading it on my toast, though. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/104 "2016-01-11T16:31:05Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I’m told that I liked mayonnaise as a child, and would happily eat ham sandwiches slathered with it without complaint. I think it’s a dirty lie, but if not, I once had the childish misconception that mayonnaise is edible, rather than repulsive glop to be eschewed and scraped off with great vengeance and furious anger every time the dumbass cook/waiter/order-taker ignores my explicit, carefully enunciated and impossible-to-misinterpret instructions and slaps that shit on my food. Which is about twice a month, minimum. You must have been raised with Best Foods/Hellmann’s. Comparatively, every other “mayonnaise” IS repulsive glop. Organic substitutes are even worse (My wife tried to get me to use one, and I finally started refilling the jar with Hellmann’s ;)). Miracle Whip is even worse than that. The taste, to me, is identical to the time I accidentally got industrial cutting lube in my mouth. I consider the “miracle” is that people will eat it. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/105 "2016-01-11T16:52:33Z")
When I was growing up, my parents apparently were still practicing terminology they had picked up during World War II. Until I was a teenager, I thought margarine was butter and Miracle Whip was mayonnaise. My mother also made what she called “ham salad” – except it contained no ham, just bologna. Once I tasted real butter, there was no going back, but to this day, I prefer Miracle Whip to mayonnaise and I still get occasional cravings for Mom’s ham salad. Oh, and I also thought cheesecake was cake flavored with cheddar cheese, and thought pizza sounded awful. I sometimes wish I had never discovered otherwise since I love them both now. Too bad the things I changed my mind about were fattening, whereas I never did change my mind about eating fish or seafood. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/106 "2016-01-11T17:37:52Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > You must have been raised with Best Foods/Hellmann’s. Comparatively, every other “mayonnaise” IS repulsive glop. Amen. ---
**Author:** ![maxjohnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@maxjohnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maxjohnson)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/107 "2016-01-11T17:56:21Z")
When I was a kid I overheard my parents talking about rices from leprosy camps. I didn’t really understand if they were donating to them or eating them. Anyway, it crept me out and I didn’t eat rice at home for 2 weeks. When I did eat rice again, I would stare at my hands and afraid it would transform into leprosy. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/108 "2016-01-11T19:17:55Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I thought Scotch and soda meant Scotch and cola. I once got ripping drunk at an SF convention and ordered the only things they had left at the open bar: grape soda and scotch. When I came to the next morning, I was informed I had had a “Purple Passion.” Yecccccch! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/109 "2016-01-11T19:19:49Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > Miracle Whip is even worse than that. The taste, to me, is identical to the time I accidentally got industrial cutting lube in my mouth. I consider the “miracle” is that people will eat it. Ever try British salad cream? :dubious: Also yecccccch! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/110 "2016-01-11T19:22:43Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Or on toasted English muffins with green olives. Mmmmmmmmmmm!!! :o ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/111 "2016-01-11T19:30:21Z")
_In re_ margarine: I remember my dad going grocery shopping with me once after I started college. At the checkout counter, he assumed a very superior air (as he was wont to do) and asked me why I was buying 2% milk and butter instead of 2% milk and margarine. “I’m buying 2% milk precisely because I’m buying butter instead of margarine. I want to eat less fat.” “All margarine is, is corn oil!” “No it isn’t. If it were just corn oil, it would be liquid at room temperature. You ever read the label on a box of margarine?” **[Somewhat sheepishly]** “No.” “Trust me: If you did, you wouldn’t eat it! I’d much rather die of a heart attack than from cancer!” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/112 "2016-01-11T19:32:24Z")
I don’t care if William Shatner himself plugged it. Margarine, **yecccccch!** :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/113 "2016-01-11T19:37:03Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’d much rather die of a heart attack than from cancer!" As we now know, margarine is more likely to cause you to die of a heart attack than butter is. I don’t know whether the rest of the ingredients cause health problems, but hydrogenated vegetable oil is terrible for you. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/114 "2016-01-11T19:39:32Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > As we now know, margarine is more likely to cause you to die of a heart attack than butter is. I don’t know whether the rest of the ingredients cause health problems, but hydrogenated vegetable oil is terrible for you. Good point! Margarine is even worse than I thought, though that hardly seems possible! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/115 "2016-01-11T20:09:11Z")
Does “if you eat watermelon seeds, a watermelon will grow in your stomach” count? ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/116 "2016-01-11T20:34:36Z")
**gigi** , I’d count it. I’d count it twice if it actually scared you away from watermelon. **Kyrie Eleison** , maybe your mother wanted you to think that so you’d stop hogging the margarine? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/117 "2016-01-11T21:49:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Glenfiddich single malt comes pretty close if you sip it neat. 🆒 Alas - my means usually mean only blended. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/118 "2016-01-11T22:38:45Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > You must have been raised with Best Foods/Hellmann’s. Comparatively, every other “mayonnaise” IS repulsive glop. Organic substitutes are even worse (My wife tried to get me to use one, and I finally started refilling the jar with Hellmann’s ;)). > > Miracle Whip is even worse than that. The taste, to me, is identical to the time I accidentally got industrial cutting lube in my mouth. I consider the “miracle” is that people will eat it. Kraft is better. Helmans is okay, but Kraft has garlic. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/119 "2016-01-11T22:39:51Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > You must have been raised with Best Foods/Hellmann’s. Comparatively, every other “mayonnaise” IS repulsive glop. I used to think Best Foods/Hellmann’s was best … until I tasted [Kewpie](https://www.google.com/#q=kewpie+mayo&tbm=isch). The Japanese really know how to make mayo. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823/120 "2016-01-11T23:19:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Tired and Cranky** : > > I’d count it twice if it actually scared you away from watermelon. That reminds me of another one: When I was a kid, my aunts had me convinced that pecan pie was yucky, and tasted terrible, and that there was no way I wanted to eat any of that. I was embarassingly old before I noticed that they didn’t seem to find it yucky themselves, and realized the real reason they were telling me that. I also thought that pierogis were “Eww, one of those vegetarian things”, because the vegetarians at family gatherings usually ate them as their main course. So I figured they’d taste like tofu or something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-food-misconceptions/741823.md?page=7)