Serious XM Podcasts.

Hey everyone, Dan here, and if you've been listening to this show for a long time, you know that I am a lover of words.

Words mean things, they matter.

And this week's reheat is a collab with a podcast called Science Diction, all about words and the science stories behind them.

So this episode brings you two stories from host and reporter Johanna Mayer. She delves into the etymology of ketchup and how it started out as a very different product from the tomato-y condiment we know today.

Johanna also dig into the disputed origins of Rocky Road ice cream.

Science Diction stopped producing new episodes, but you can still check out their whole

archive in any podcast app.

As always, if there's a Sporkful episode you want us to pull out of the deep freezer for a

reheat. Drop me a line. Tell me what it is. I'm at hello atsporkful.com.

All right. Enjoy.

In the early 1900s, there was a strange dining room in the basement of the Department

of Agriculture.

It had sparse white walls, white china, two round oak tables with white tablecloths,

12 straight-backed chairs.

And propped up at the entrance, there was a hand-painted sign that said,

None but the brave can eat the fair.

Every day, 12 young, healthy men would put on their suits and bow ties, march into that dining room, and dig into meals laced with borax, or salicylic acid, or even formaldehyde.

They were called the poison squad, and the meals they ate in that basement dining hall would completely transform America's most iconic condiment.

Catch up.

This is the Spork Full.

It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. I'm Dan Pashman. Each week on our show, we obsess about food to learn more about people.

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