Mrs. Butterworth’s Original Maple Syrup. Wise onion rings. Bac’n Pieces Bacon Flavored Bits.
Consumers have always been confounded by deceptive product names that sound like they’d certainly be one thing, but is entirely different. The product’s above are illusive due to their brand’s marketers: Mrs. Butterworth’s maple syrup contains neither butter or maple syrup, Wise onion rings has no onions, and Bac’n pieces isn’t really bacon.
Commercial and retail food products aren’t the only ones with misleading names – natural foods suffer from this same mix-up.
Here are five foods that could use a new name.
Buckwheat
There’s no doubt that the first thought that comes to mind when you hear buckwheat is ‘grain’. After all wheat, grain, there’s an association there.
But not in this case. Buckwheat is actually a fruit seed that’s a cousin to rhubarb and sorrel. It contains zero wheat, and is coincidentally a substitute for wheat or grains for people sensitive to gluten.
Buckwheat is known to reduce cholesterol levels, stabilize blood sugar levels, and is a solid source of magnesium.
Sweetbreads
Sweetbread could be the most untrustworthy food on this list. It’s not sweet. Heck, it’s not even bread.
Sweetbread is made from either the thymus gland or pancreas of a lamb, cow or pig. It’s different than your standard organ meat, sporting a smooth, creamy texture that’s virtually flavourless.
So if you’re looking for something sweet to indulge in, sweetbread is NOT the answer. Though it would be fun to fake out a friend with a sweet tooth they can’t deny, and watch as their facial expression changes from excitement to exasperation.
Cream Cheese
While it’s ‘technically’ cheese, cream cheese doesn’t compare to the goodness of hard cheese.
A tablespoon of cream cheese holds 0.9 grams of protein, and 14.2 milligrams of calcium. A slice of hard cheese comparatively contains 7 grams and 200 milligrams, respectively.
Basically what we’re saying is cream cheese isn’t worthy to include the ‘cheese’ suffix, as it’s giving it a bad name.
Hamburgers
You probably don’t live under a rock, so you know hamburgers aren’t made with ham.
Some say burgers were named after the city Hamburg in Germany, while others claim it was nicknamed at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.
Regardless, hamburgers are primarily composed of ground meat, like beef or turkey, along with other flavour enhancers. Veggie burgers are growing in popularity too, though they range in quality from healthy, whole foods like beans and veggies, to more processed, soy-based blends.
We don’t agree with the name hamburgers – but we think it’s better than calling them steamed hams, or something.
Rocky Mountain Oysters
The good news is, if you don’t like seafood, you might not mind dabbling in rocky mountain oysters.
The bad news is, rocky mountain oysters are…an acquired taste. It’s really an appetizer made of deep-friend bull, pig, or sheep testicles.
Bon appetit!
Photo Credit: Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock
