April Fool's Day Food and Drink

After Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, Americans were sure there was no limit to his genius. So when the New York Graphic announced on April 1, 1878 that Edison had invented a machine capable of transforming soil directly into cereal and water directly into wine, thereby ending the problem of world hunger, it found a willing audience of believers.

Newspapers throughout America copied the article and heaped lavish praise on Edison. The conservative Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, in particular, waxed eloquent about Edison's genius in an editorial that dwelled upon the good fortune of a man like Edison having been born in the progressive nineteenth century when his genius could be appreciated. "Let steady-going people whose breath has been taken away by the pace we seem to be driving at just now, take heart therefore," it declared. "And be thankful that the genius of true benefactors of the race, like Edison, cannot now be crippled and blighted by superstition and bigotry, as it was when Galileo was forced to recant the awful heresy that two and two make four."

The New York Graphic reprinted the Advertiser's editorial in full. Above the article it placed a single, gloating headline: "They Bite!" More…

Edith Walrach, a nineteen-year-old woman of a "very nervous temperament" was in serious condition as a result of an April Fool's Day joke that went bad. While visiting friends in Binghampton, New York, a practical joker "procured a small live mouse, which he put in an egg-shell, covering the opening with plaster of Paris. This was brought in with the breakfast and when Miss Walrach broke the shell and the liberated mouse jumped out she screamed and fainted away. During the day she had three nervous fits, and her physician pronounced her condition critical." The young man was wild with grief. He was her fiancee. [Fort Wayne Evening Sentinel, Apr 3, 1900] More…

Chow Lamb, a Chinese-born laundryman, bought some candy at the confectionery store of James Constantino. Unfortunately, Mr. Lamb did not read English. Therefore he did not understand the sign beside the candy that said, "April Fool Candy—Fool a Friend." The candies were cotton balls dipped in chocolate. After consuming two of them, he became very sick. He later filed charges against Mr. Constantino, under section 7, chapter 38 of the criminal code, which prohibits the sale of confections adulterated with a substance injurious to health. The outcome of his lawsuit was not reported. [Chicago Daily Tribune, Apr 1, 1915.] More…

"Ma didn't get much of a laugh out of the april fool joke she played on dad with that sawdust pie." More…

San Jose hat dealer Jay McCabe posted a sign in his window announcing that a truckload of booze had fallen into the Coyote creek at the Julian Street bridge, and that the driver had fled. Scores of people drove to the location, found no truck, and then remembered what day it was.

(This was during the Prohibition Era, so a truckload of booze would have been a particularly tempting attraction.) More…

The Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung reported that Honolulu's famous pineapple-shaped water tower, which stood over the cannery of the Dole Food Co., was actually filled with pineapple juice, not water. The juice was supplied free of charge through a "special pipe network" to the homes of employees of the pineapple company, after six o'clock in the evening. More…

The San Antonio Express offered its readers brief hope that meat was no longer rationed. A front-page picture showed a picture of meat with the phrase "Not Rationed" in bold letters. However, the picture's caption warned, "Look at the dateline on top of this page!" More…

A York, Pennsylvania diner advertised "Today's [Soda] Fountain Special — Aqua Pura — only 5 cents."

Those who ordered the "Special" discovered that Aqua Pura was simply pure water. All profits from the joke were donated to the Red Cross. More…

Aftenposten, Norway's largest newspaper, announced on its front page that the government-owned Wine Monopoly (Vinmonopolet) had received a large shipment of wine in barrels, but it had run out of bottles. To get rid of the extra wine, they were running a one-day sale, offering wine at 75% off and tax-free. The catch was that buyers had to bring their own containers to put the wine in. "Buckets, pitchers, and the like" were recommended.

When the Vinmonopolets opened at 10 a.m., long queues formed outside. According to legend, numerous empty buckets were later seen lying in the streets, left there by people who had realized, while standing in line, that the sale was a hoax. More…

"Lenore Carter, waitress in a downtown cafe, decides to have some fun with an unsuspecting customer, Pat Inge (right), by pouring salt into Pat's coffee while the latter is conversing with a smirking companion, Lorine Rundle. Lenore's act was all in fun, though, as today is April Fool's Day. Photographer Chuck Sundquist didn't hang around to see how Pat enjoyed the 'fun.'" [Long Beach Press-Telegram - Apr 1, 1952] More…

The respected BBC news show Panorama ran a segment revealing that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees.

Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."

The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest is one of the most famous, and most popular, April Fool hoaxes of all time. More…

BBC TV interviewed a London University professor who had perfected a technology he called "smellovision," allowing viewers to smell aromas produced in the television studio in their homes. The professor explained that his machine broke scents down into their component molecules which were then transmitted through the screen.

The professor demonstrated by placing some coffee beans and onions into the smellovision machine. He asked viewers to report by noon whether they had smelled anything. Numerous viewers called in from across the country to confirm that they had distinctly experienced these scents. Some claimed the onions made their eyes water. More…

A barge appeared in Sydney Harbor towing a giant iceberg. Sydneysiders were expecting it. Dick Smith, a local adventurer and millionaire businessman (owner of Dick Smith’s Foods), had been loudly promoting his scheme to tow an iceberg from Antarctica for quite some time. Now he had apparently succeeded. He said that he was going to carve the berg into small ice cubes, which he would sell to the public for ten cents each. These well-traveled cubes, fresh from the pure waters of Antarctica, were promised to improve the flavor of any drink they cooled.

Slowly the iceberg made its way into the harbor. Local radio stations provided blow-by-blow coverage of the scene. Only when the berg was well into the harbor was its secret revealed. It started to rain, and the firefighting foam and shaving cream that the berg was really made of washed away, uncovering the white plastic sheets beneath. More…

CBC Radio interviewed a Mrs. Fiona Curtis of Willowdale, Ontario who operated a wholesale food business from the basement of her house, supplying high-end gastronomical shops with frozen budgerigars. Before freezing them, she stuffed them with a mixture of chestnut, squid, onion, and bread, and then cooked them. She noted that one ate the entire budgie, including the bones, and insisted they were "quite delicious," although she conceded they needed "a lot of spice."

She hoped eventually to expand her business to include gerbils as well. [listen to the broadcast] More…

On Cable magazine reporter Peter Funt announced the creation of the first 24-hour a day cable food network called KNOSH.

(Apparently the idea of a 24-hour a day food network seemed silly in the days before Emeril Lagasse.) More…

The South China Morning Post announced that a solution to Hong Kong’s water shortage was at hand. First, scientists had found a way to drain the clouds surrounding the island’s peak of their water by electrifying them via antennae erected on the peak. The paper warned that this might have a negative impact on surrounding property values, but the government had approved the project nevetheless. Second, more clouds could be attracted to the region by means of a weather satellite positioned over India. And finally, packets of powdered water imported from China would be distributed to all the residents of Hong Kong. A single pint of water added to this powdered water would magically transform into ten pints of drinkable water.

Hong Kong’s radio shows were flooded with calls from people eager to discuss these solutions to the water shortage. Many of the calls were supportive of the plans, but one woman pointed out that the pumps needed to supply powdered water would be too complicated and expensive. More…

NPR's All Things Considered ran a segment about the threat of extinction facing the Vince Lombardi Fondue Springs, the "last surviving spring of natural fondue cheese in the United States," located in the fondue country of northern Wisconsin.

For years the fondue springs had been a "point of pilgrimage for cheese communicants." But now, the Cheese Watch Society warned, the Fondue Pocket was reducing. The society recommended "a highly trained force of cheese rangers to control visitors to the fondue pocket using sniffer dogs." If steps weren't taken, the society warned, the cheese would soon be gone. More…

Virgin Atlantic ran an ad noting that the waste gases from champage (CO₂ + NO₁) recently had been found to have "a detrimental effect on the upper atmosphere and contribute towards the depletion of the ozone layer."

For which reason it had commissioned a special "still champagne" to serve on its flights. It promised that the taste was "distinctively dry with a hint of flint." More…

The Hoffman York & Compton ad firm released a mock ad for "Cape Town Scotch whiskey" — the alcoholic whiskey that would never make you drunk:

Cape Town is a smooth blend of 25 of the finest single malt Scotch whiskies. Most of which are made from the waters of Great Karroo highlands here in central South Africa. These pure malts are then aged for 15 years in oak and sherry casks for a distinctively sweet, peaty flavour.

But what gives Cape Town its sobering quality is that it's also blended with Retrohol®, a tasteless, odourless, ethanol-oxidiing enzyme which accelerates your body's ability to clear out alcohol. What used to take the body several hours to sober you up, now takes a few minutes! In fact, the more Cape Town you drink, the more effective Retrohol is. More…

The Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported that an alcoholic beverage company had invented a new kind of candy sure to be a favorite with the Russian people: chewy Vodka Bars. These bars, designed to compete with Mars and Snickers bars, would come in three flavors — lemon, coconut, and salted cucumber. The same company was also perfecting another new product: instant vodka in tea bags. More…

Polo Mints announced that "in accordance with EEC Council Regulation (EC) 631/95" they would no longer be producing mints with holes. This regulation required all "producers of tubular foodstuffs... to delete holes from their products." In the future, a "EURO-CONVERSION KIT" would be included with all tubes of Polo mints. These kits would contain twenty 7mm "Hole Fillers" to be placed in the Polo mint. A "detailed instruction leaflet" would also be included. More…

The fast food chain Taco Bell took out a full page ad in the New York Times to announce that they were purchasing the Liberty Bell and renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Their reason for doing this was to "do their part to reduce the country's debt." The company pointed out that corporations had been adopting highways for years, and that Taco Bell was simply "going one step further by purchasing one of the country's greatest historic treasures." More…

Mars Inc. ran a half-page ad in London's Daily Telegraph announcing the introduction of left and right-handed versions of its signature candy bar. It explained that for years left-handed people had been opening the wrapper from the wrong end and consequently were "eating against the chocolate flow on the bar surface." Therefore, the wrapper would henceforth come in two different versions, marked "L" and "R", with a "tear here" perforation at the appropriate corner. More…

Virgin Cola announced that in the interest of consumer safety it had integrated a new technology into its cans. When the cola passed its sell-by date, the liquid would react with the metal in the can, turning the can bright blue. Virgin warned that consumers should therefore avoid purchasing all blue cans. Coincidentally, Pepsi had recently unveiled its newly designed cans which were bright blue. More…

Burger King published a full page ad in USA Today announcing the introduction of a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. The new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments had been rotated 180 degrees, "thereby redistributing the weight of the sandwich so that the bulk of the condiments will skew to the left, thereby reducing the amount of lettuce and other toppings from spilling out the right side of the burger."

The next day Burger King revealed that thousands of customers had gone into its restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously "many others requested their own 'right handed' version." More…

On March 30, Guinness issued a press release announcing it had reached an agreement with the Old Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England to be the official beer sponsor of the Observatory's millennium celebration. According to this agreement, Greenwich Mean Time would be renamed Guinness Mean Time until the end of 1999. In addition, where the Observatory traditionally counted seconds in "pips," it would now count them in "pint drips." Finally, a Guinness bar would open in the astronomy dome and the Observatory's official millennium countdown would feature a Guinness clock counting "pint settling time" with a two-minute stopwatch.

Guinness issued the announcement as an embargoed release, meaning that reporters who received the release weren't supposed to write about it until the day it was issued to the public on April 1. However, the Financial Times broke the embargo (not realizing that the release was a joke) and discussed the announcement a day early in an article titled "Guinness to sponsor the Old Royal Observatory." It criticized Guinness for exploiting the millennium excitement to promote its brand name, declaring that Guinness, with its Greenwich tie-in, was setting a "brash tone for the millennium."

When the Financial Times learned it had fallen for a joke, it printed a curt retraction, stating that the news it had disclosed "was apparently intended as part of an April 1 spoof." Guinness spokesman Roy Mantle said, "The best thing to say is that they pipped everybody to the post and we were very pleased to see that actually in such an august organ as the Financial Times." In a separate statement Guinness took a more charitable tone, explaining that "The Financial Times was running a perfectly serious business piece and Guinness faxed over the spoof among other information. It wasn't really his [the reporter's] fault." More…

The British supermarket chain Tesco published an advertisement in The Sun announcing the successful development of a genetically modified 'whistling carrot.' The ad explained that the carrots had been engineered to grow with tapered airholes in their side. When fully cooked, these airholes caused the vegetable to whistle. More…

The BBC reported that school-lunch authorities in the UK had banned chips (french fries) from school canteens: "They reckon the fave food is unhealthy, so have decided kids won't be able to eat it any more - you'll all have to eat lumpy mash instead! Government food expert Professor Steve P.U. Denton said that although they knew the decision would be unpopular, they were making it so kids would be healthier. He added: 'We're very sorry that we have to do this, but kids spend so much time playing computer games now we have to help them keep fit another way.' The head of the UK Chip Authority, Fry Smith has slammed the move, saying he couldn't understand why chips have come in for special treatment."

The Sydney Morning Herald reviewed Species restaurant in their Good Living supplement. This unusual dining establishment allowed diners to sample animals featured on the World Wildlife Fund's endangered list. Among its specialties: braised slices of hairy nosed wombat, yellow spotted tree frog kebabs and Sumatran Rhino steaks. The owner of the restaurant was named April Phewell. The next day the paper received numerous letters from outraged readers who thought the restaurant was real. More…

Thinkgeek.com introduced the George Foreman USB iGrill, the "low-fat, high-bandwidth solution to your networked cooking needs":

"The George Foreman USB iGrill conveniently connects to your home or office PC using USB 2.0 technology, and provides a sophisticated web-based cooking interface. Download recipes, enter in the type of food, weight and desired degree of doneness, and the iGrill handles the rest. Did you know that a medium rare 1/4 lb. hamburger made from 80% lean beef takes 1 minute and 45 seconds less cook time than an identical patty made from 95% lean prime Black Angus? The iGrill does. As your meal cooks, the subtle glow from under the unit increases brightness and pulses faster until your meal is perfectly done." More…

The European Committee issued a communique in which it declared that it was banning single-shelled eggs, in order to prevent cracked eggs being found in food stores. The ban was a play on the French word "coque" which means both egg shell and ship's hull. More…

Thinkgeek.com, an online retailer of offbeat gadgets, continued a multiyear tradition of posting fake gadgets on April 1st by debuting the PC EZ-Bake Oven: "It fits in a 5 1/4" drive bay and plugs right into your power supply with the included Molex connector… The PC Ez-Bake oven can even be used to cook your Pop Tarts, Bagel Bites, or any tiny or flat food. YUM!" More…

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that new legislation had been proposed that would require operators of yum cha trolley carts (as seen in Chinese restaurants) to obtain a license. The legislation had been proposed due to "dangerous trolley usage in yum-cha eateries." An expert noted: "There's been a lot of problem with dumpling accidents particularly. Dumplings retain their heat for quite some time. You get one of those in your lap and it can be extremely painful." Under the new rules, operators of the food carts would first have to complete an instructional course, and then would "carry a small 'L' plate on their carts for six months before being granted full licences." More…

BMW ran an ad in the Guardian unveiling its new Satellite Hypersensitive Electromagnetic Foodration (SHEF) Technology, which allowed drivers to cook their dinners from their car as they drove home from work. All the dials for the home oven were built into the dashboard of the car and communicated wirelessly with the actual oven at home. Drivers could monitor the progress of their meal via a built-in oven-cam. The ad directed readers to a website that offered recipes such as "chicken a la M42." More…

Google branched out into a new product area with the announcement of Google Gulp, a high-tech "smart drink" that featured a DNA scanner embedded in the lip of the bottle that would read "all 3 gigabytes of your base pair genetic data in a fraction of a second, fine-tuning your individual hormonal cocktail in real time using our patented Auto-Drink™ technology, and slamming a truckload of electrolytic neurotransmitter smart-drug stimulants past the blood-brain barrier to achieve maximum optimization of your soon-to-be-grateful cerebral cortex."

Plus, the company added, "it's low in carbs!" More…

Online retailer ThinkGeek.com announced the availability of the "Fundue," a desktop USB-powered fondue set — "a USB powered desktop culinary experience that will transform your lunches to a new realm." More…

NPR's All Things Considered ran a segment on a drop in maple syrup consumption, triggered by the low-carb craze, which supposedly was causing a serious problem for New England's maple-tree industry: exploding maple trees. The announcer reported: "An untapped tree is a time bomb ready to go off… The trees explode like gushers, causing injuries and sometimes death. If untended, quiet stands of Nature's sweeteners can turn into spindly demons of destruction. The Vermont Health Board reports 87 fatalities, 140 maimings, and a dozen decapitations, caused by sap-build-up explosions this year." More…

The Daily Express reported that jam biscuits were being mixed into tarmac to help make roads safer. "Scientists yesterday revealed that broken biscuits are in fact the perfect material to help resurface roads... Years of experimental research revealed that crushed-up ginger nuts are the best biscuit for a road's sub-base, as they are more porous and allow water to drain away." More…

Nestle put out a press release announcing they were changing the name of the Butterfinger candy bar to "The Finger," in order to give the candy "a shorter, more contemporary name." More…

Guinness ran a print ad showing its famous dark beer reversed (foam on bottom, beer on top). The caption on the ad read, "For Today Only." More…

British supermarket chain Waitrose placed ads in newspapers announcing the availability of a new fruit, the pinana (a combination of pineapple and banana). The text of the ad read:

Pinanas. Fresh in today and exclusive to Waitrose. If you find that all Waitrose pinanas have sold out, don't worry, there's 50% off our essential Waitrose strawberries." More…

The American grocery chain Whole Foods Market revealed a new product on its website: organic air. It came in .02 oz bottles in four varieties: original, sea breeze, mountain wind, and salt & vinegar. The grocery chain also announced that it was opening a new store in Antarctica, and that it was offering a free spider with every purchase of 50-lbs of organic bananas. More…

The Daily Mail revealed that Walkers Crisps had collaborated with acoustics experts at the London Institute of Sound Performance (LISP) to design noise-free crisps, to be marketed as "Ready Silent Cri-sshhp." The crisps allowed people to "eat loud snacks in the cinema without disturbing the person next to you." The crisp was said to have "the same flavour and crunchiness, except it comes already crushed." More…

Candy shop A Quarter Of announced it would soon be selling the Chokle, a chocolate bar filled with helium gas:

"It's a chocolate bar that tastes great, makes you squeak and makes everyone else laugh... pure genius! Take a small bite and your voice goes up a little, eat a whole bar in a single mouthful and you approach your maximum Mickey Mouse squeakiness!" More…

The website of Cyclone Dairy appeared online in late March 2009, purporting to represent "the first dairy brand to offer great-tasting products made exclusively from cloned cows." The smiling family featured on the site's front page included a young boy missing his front teeth.

On April 1st, ice cream-maker Ben & Jerry's revealed it had created the site, hoping to raise "consumer awareness of the government's recent approval of cloned milk and meat within the human food supply chain." More…

Online retailer thinkgeek.com unveiled Squeez Bacon, 100% bacon paste that could be squeezed from a tube. It described it as "the world's most perfect food."
Squeez Bacon® is fully cooked 100% bacon. Due to the patented electro-mechanical process by which Squeez Bacon® is rendered, it requires no preservatives or other additives. Each serving is as healthy as real bacon, and equivalent to 4 premium slices of bacon! More…

The website HowStuffWorks described a new startup company, ReBubble, that was coming out with rechargeable chewing gum. The gum could be "recharged" by placing it in a special recharging station, the ReCHEWvenation Chamber, that plugged into either a standard power socket or connected to a computer via a USB cable. "After it finishes charging, the gum should have the same taste and texture as it did fresh from the package." The gum would eventually come in five flavors, although the only flavor currently available tasted like "grape with a hint of ozone." However, there were reportedly problems if people ate partially charged-sticks of gum. But the company was trying hard to prevent "catastrophic gum failure." More…

Russian Standard Vodka ran ads in UK newspapers claiming to have created the world's first "lickvert" — an ad dipped in vodka that could be licked to taste the drink. Readers were urged to "Lick Here," though also reminded to, "Please lick responsibly."

The vodka lickverts were a hoax. But real-life lickable ads had existed in the past. For instance, in 2008 Welch's grape juice ran a lickable ad in People magazine. More…

UK bakery chain Sayers announced the launch of a new "left-handed sandwich" designed to fit more comfortably in the left hand and result in fewer embarrassing "spills." All the ingredients in the left-handed sandwich had been rotated 180 degrees in order to redistribute the weight of the sandwich, so that the bulk of them skewed to the left. The packaging was also altered so that the door opened to the left. More…

Ben & Jerry's invited visitors to its website to try out Ice Screen, "the world's first virtual ice cream."

The company explained: "NASA developed nanotechnology can now be streamed into your PC operating system through any internet browser. So we decided to merge this with our state of the art coding script to transform ice-cream at a moo-lecular level!" More…

On page 17 of its print edition, The Sun announced that it was proud to offer the "world's first flavoured PAGE." Readers were invited to lick a white square that bore the message "Lick Here." However, the square also carried the warning, "May contain nuts."

The flavor of the page was not revealed. Instead readers were asked to email The Sun with their "taste test results." More…

CNet reported on Tableau, a new London restaurant using iPad 2 tablets as plates:

It was deeply moving to see a delicious steak served on a stunning slice of tablet technology. Info about calories and nutrients was displayed around our pasta, and it even warned us to beware of our piping-hot food. There are downsides to iPad 2-based dishes, however. The device doesn't have a rim, which means it doesn't do a good job of holding sauces and other runny items. According to other diners, the all-day breakfast was "a nightmare" due to the fried egg and beans running rampant over the table. More…

NPR's Marketplace reported that advertisers were experimenting with genetically engineering food so that it would display advertisements. For instance, it was possible to engineer burger patties so that as they cooked an image of "Mr. Pickle" appeared on the burger. At 160 degrees Fahrenheit, Mr.Pickle would even start to wave.

One ice-cream maker had also created cones with coupons inside the ice cream. The secret coupon code was revealed after you took a bite of the ice cream.

But consumers seemed wary of these food advertisements. One shopper said, "20 percent [off] isn't worth having to stare at ads at dinner." More…

As a way to encourage recycling, and to add flavor to its stories, the UK Metro Herald announced plans to issue the newspaper in edible form. It explained:

"The printing process sees ingredients such as corn starch, vegetable oil, gum arabic, water and citric acid cooked into a stodgy paste and thin sheets. The paste is poured on to the sheets under silk meshes arranged in the form of headlines, pictures and articles. Printing takes a few hours overnight – several seconds to print each page and slightly longer to dry. The finished products are even given a light vanilla scent." More…

The British Library's Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts Blog announced the discovery of a long-lost medieval cookbook that included a recipe for cooked unicorn.

"Taketh one unicorne," the cookbook instructed, then marinade it in cloves and garlic, and finally roast it on a griddle. The compiler of this cookbook was said to be one "Geoffrey Fule," who worked in the kitchens of Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England (1328-1369). More…

The Yorkshire Times reported that a new "EU Labelling Directive" mandated accurate descriptions on all food products, including "an indication of whether the product is a sweet or savoury item." It would be illegal to use misleading terms such as "pudding" on a savoury product.

For this reason, the term "Yorkshire Pudding" would be banned. The regional delicacy would henceforth be described as a "Yorkshire Savoury." The legislation was facing stiff resistance from Yorkshire chefs and restaurateurs, but the Times warned that "EU legislators are unlikely to be swayed."

Domino's Japan revealed an exciting new product — pizza in a can. Perfect for those on-the-go. Each can contained a rolled-up slice of pizza. Simply open the can, heat it up, and enjoy pizza that tastes as if it's fresh from the oven!

The concept parodied "bread in a can," which was a real product that became popular in Japan around 2006, and was sold in vending machines. More…

Chocolate letters are a popular candy, especially around Easter. But the Netherlands-based Decidon Foundation (which specializes in creating alternative forms of reading for people with sight or reading disabilities) realized there was a gap in the market. There were no chocolate letters for the blind, so they decided to introduce braille chocolate letters. The braille letters were made of 150 grams of chocolate. They came in a special package, also printed with braille.

The Smokers Angel, makers of an electronic cigarette, revealed they were expanding into a new line of products: e-lager. They explained: "It looks and feels just like a real can of lager, but when you hold up the can and vrink (def: to slurp vinkahol) an atomiser is activated which vaporises the e-foria liquid inside. The resulting thick vapour tastes and feels just like a real lager, but, after swallowing, the contents vaporise away, escaping through your nostrils, mouth and other orifices. What’s left behind?  Alcohol - with none of the fatty carbohydrates of real beer.

Chilefoundry.com warned that the federal government was planning to classify Capsaicin (the component of chili peppers that gives them their heat) as a controlled substance. Seeds of any chili pepper capable of producing 1 millions SHUs (Scoville Scale heat units) would become illegal. The government made this decision after noting that after eating extremely hot sauces, people frequently talked about feeling a "high" afterwards. More…

Technology review site Pocket-lint.com revealed that "scientists in a research laboratory in Cambridge" had invented glow-in-the-dark popcorn. The invention was expected to help cinema-goers "see if they've got any popcorn left and not discard boxes of half full popcorn on the floor."

Dr A. Täuschen, leader of the research team, insisted that the green-glowing popcorn tasted the same as regular popcorn, and he urged that customers should see it as "a benefit" rather than something to be "afraid of". More…

British supermarket chain Sainsbury's issued a press release announcing that it was stocking a limited edition run of pink avocados, also known as "rosa-vos." This unusual item was said to be a naturally grown hybrid of different avocado varieties, imported from Peru. More…

McDonald's Australia unveiled the McPickle Burger. It featured no meat. Just "juicy, flavoursome pickles layered between melted cheese, ketchup sauce and toasted sesame seed buns." More…