7 mistakenly discovered food items that are now famous

Not every mistake should be written off; a closer look at it might reveal its positive aspects. We could say the same for some of the popular food items that we’re now familiar with. 

A number of them didn’t start as a well-thought-out plan that must be fulfilled or executed. Let’s take a look at some of these mistakenly discovered food items that have grown to become famous around the world. 

1. Coca-cola

John Pemberton was a wounded soldier who was addicted to cocaine and wanted to find a way to stop. So, he made a drink at his pharmacy using a little bit of cocaine and kola nut rich in caffeine

Then there was Asa Candler, another pharmacist, who bought the drink for $2,300 and added soda to it to make it fizzy. 

By the late 1890s, this mistakenly discovered food item, Coca-Cola, became America’s favourite drink.

2. Sandwich

There was a man named John Montagu who was in the middle of an intense gambling game and didn’t want to stop. So, he asked for meat to be placed between two slices of bread, so he could eat without using utensils or getting his hands dirty. 

And that’s how he mistakenly discovered the food item that almost everyone is familiar with, today. 

3. Potato chips

Potato chips were invented in 1853 by a man named George Crum. He worked as the Head Chef at Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs, which was famous for serving fries. 

One day, a customer complained that the fries were too thick, and the Head Chef tried making a new batch with thinner fries, but the customer still wasn’t satisfied. 

Crum then decided to slice the potatoes as thin as possible and fry them until they were crispy, and voila! The mistakenly discovered food item came to light. The customer loved them, and in no time, potato chips became one of the most popular snacks in the world; even till now.

READ ALSO: 5 food items you should never put in the microwave

4. Cornflakes (Kellogg)

Another mistakenly discovered food item is cornflakes. Will Kellogg invented cornflakes in the early 1900s when he was trying to make a healthy snack for his patients – he accidentally made flakes from wheat. 

After some more tries, he finally figured out how to make flakes from corn. And today, it’s a delicious breakfast treat for almost every household. 

5. Ice cream cones

At the 1904 World’s Fair that took place in St. Louis, Ernest Hamwi was selling waffle-like pastries called Zalabis. His neighbour, who was selling ice cream, ran out of bowls. So, Ernest helped out by shaping his waffles into cones to hold the ice cream. 

The customers loved this mistakenly discovered food item, and now we can’t imagine ice cream without a cone.

6. Chocolate chip cookies

Back in 1930, Mrs Ruth Graves Wakefield and her husband, Kenneth, ran a little place called the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts. One day, while baking cookies, she ran out of baking chocolate. 

So, instead, she chopped a chocolate bar, believing that it would melt. However, that was not the case, the pieces stayed thick and made the cookie even better.

7. Popsicles

In 1905, an 11-year-old boy, Frank Epperson mistakenly created Popsicles, a treat that kids love, today. So, how did this mystery treat come to be?

One night, the boy in question left a glass of soda and a stirring stick outside, overnight. The next morning, he found it frozen into a tasty ice pop on a stick

Later on, he patented this invention and called it the Popsicle. 

Summarily, the best things sometimes happen by accident, and these famous mistakenly discovered food items are proof of that.