15 Foods That Were Lying About Their Identity All Along

Strawberries are not berries and neither are raspberries or blackberries.

Officially berries are defined as fleshy fruits produced from the ovary of a single flower. And strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries do not meet this criterion.

An avocado is a berry, and so are bananas.

Avocados and bananas are fleshy fruits produced from the ovary of a single flower, so they are technically classified as berries.

And grapes are berries too.

Grapes are born from a single ovary, therefore they are berries too.

Sugarcane is a grass.

Although a bit taller than your everyday grass, sugarcane is technically classified as a grass.

Peanuts are not nuts, they are actually considered beans.

Nuts grow on trees, whereas peanuts grow in pods underground. Botanists classify peanuts as legumes which means that they are from the same family as beans, peas, and lentils.

White chocolate isn’t chocolate.

White chocolate is made with cocoa butter, milk solids, and sugar, and does not contain cocoa solids that give the traditional darker chocolates their recognizable flavor and color.

Quinoa isn’t a grain, it’s a seed.

There’s a lot of debate regarding quinoa being a grain or a seed. Biologically speaking quinoa is a seed that is harvested from a tall, leafy plant that is not a cereal grass. It is a close relative of spinach, beets, and chard.

Eggplant is not a vegetable, it’s a fruit — technically a berry.

While in the kitchen eggplant is treated as a vegetable because we do not eat it raw for its sweetness, scientists classify it as a fruit since it has seeds inside.

Tomatoes are fruits too.

Anything that has seeds inside is scientifically classified as a fruit. And we have all seen tomatoes filled with seeds. So, however you eat them, raw or cooked, tomatoes are biologically classified as a fruit.

Bell peppers are also fruits.

We have all seen the inside of peppers that are laden with seeds, therefore no matter how we use them in the kitchen, they are fruits.

Chili peppers are fruits too.

Just like bell peppers, hot chili peppers are also considered fruits.

But Rhubarb is a vegetable, not a fruit.

No seeds here, so Rhubarb gets classified as a vegetable, not a fruit.

And Okra is a fruit, not a vegetable.

The presence of seeds inside okra classifies them as a fruit.

Your everyday crabsticks are not from crabs.

The crabsticks that you buy from the supermarket are not made from crab. They are in fact a mixture of starches, fillers, and white fish paste, that’s rolled into the shape of a crab leg. This is usually not gluten-free and has orange food dye to make it appear more “crabby.”

You have probably never been served real Wasabi.

The green paste called Wasabi that you get served every time you visit a Japanese restaurant is most likely not the real thing. This fake, pungent pale green paste is most likely a mixture of horseradish, mustard, and food coloring that is much harsher in taste than the real thing.