What the heck is that...

This is totally and completely random, but are there things that you just tend to wonder about?  Like, why does that happen?  What is that, but really what is that?!  I looked up a few of my curiosities and here is what I found:

Stringy Things on a Banana

Phloem or Phloem Bundles –carries and distributes nutrients to all parts of the Banana They gross me out for some reason!  If you peel the banana from the ‘bottom’, it does not happen as much.

Expiration Date

Expiration Dates are actually voluntary.  The only items required by federal law to be labeled for expiration are infant formula and some baby food. Some states also mandate pulling dairy from store shelves on the expiration date.  In actuality, Expiration Date refers to the LAST date a food should be consumed.

Sell By Date

The Sell By Date is a guide for the retailer, telling the store how long to display the product.  The Sell By Date is the LAST day the item is at its highest level of quality.

Asparagus Pee

Why does eating asparagus make your pee smell?!  The metabolism of asparagus produces a byproduct called Methanethiol, a colorless gas with a smell.  When we eat asparagus, our digestive track breaks down mercaptan, a natural substance found in plant tissues and, in the blood and brain of humans and other animals.

B.O.

A smell our bodies give off when bacteria that live on the skin break down protein into acids.  Sweat itself is described as almost odorless.  It is the rapid multiplication of bacteria in sweat that causes the unpleasant (to say the least) smell.