Ice cold disasters that shook the planet
It turned out that the grain seeds had been treated with a mercury-based fungicide and were not intended for human consumption. This was clearly labeled on the bags, but only in Spanish and English. More than 400 people died and thousands were left with serious brain damage.
There had been severe draught in Iraq and food supplies were low. The government had ordered desert-friendly grain seeds in bulk from a Mexican company to resolve the situation. When the grain arrived it was too late to plant it, so farmers and the local people consumed it instead.
The massive amount of dust created by the refined sugar was like gunpowder. The explosion completely destroyed the three-story building and spread to the river nearby. Fourteen people were killed and 38 were severely injured.
On June 18, 1875, the staff at Malone's malt house in Dublin checked on their storehouse containing 5,000 barrels of whiskey. Everything looked fine, but a few hours later a raging fire broke out.
The area of St. Giles Rookery was a slum with poorly constructed buildings. The 15-foot (4.5 m) wave destroyed buildings and killed many people. In some cases, those living in basement or ground floor rooms were drowned in their homes.
Firefighters at the harbor tried to put the fire out with hoses, not realizing they were creating the perfect conditions to cook tapioca! With the heat and moisture, the tapioca began to cook and expand, straining the ship so much it almost burst! The workers desperately unloaded tons of the tapioca to save the ship.
Unlike the Dublin disaster, people did not rush to the street to gather as much beer as they could. Instead, an eerie silence fell over the Rookery so they could listen out for the voices of survivors trapped in the ruins.
Investigations showed the fire was started by a a single tiny spark caused by dry millstones rubbing together. The spark ignited with the flour dust that floated in the air, which is said to be more explosive than coal dust.
If you thought sugar was dangerous, wait until you hear about the treacherous world of grain storage. A Kansas newspaper estimated that in the previous 30 years, one in 10 of 680 workplace deaths occurred on grain elevators. (grain elevators are large storage facilities that stockpile grain). One of the main risks is that a worker falls in and gets buried by tons and tons of grain.
Molasses in that quantity would have moved like a mudslide or a wave of molten lava. It coated everything and then hardened in the cold weather. It reportedly took 87,000 hours of labor to chisel away at the hardened molasses to complete the cleanup and recover the bodies of the victims.
The barrels burst, spreading a blazing river of whiskey that was two feet (0.6 m) high through the streets. The firefighters were scared to use water for fear of spreading the fire, so they began to pile on sand and cow dung to put out the flames.
In 1878, the world's largest flour mill, found in Minneapolis, exploded. It was an enormous seven-story building and the explosion was heard from miles away. The entire mill and surrounding buildings were destroyed, killing the 12 nightshift employees inside. A raging fire spread to nearby buildings, killing four more people.
Cheese is not usually the most flammable food, but apparently, Norwegian goat's cheese is! The sweet brown cheese, known as brunost, is extremely high in fat and sugar, making it the perfect combustible. It's said to burn as hot as gasoline.
A similar disaster occurred in London in 1814. A brewery in the St. Giles area was ruined when a 22-foot (7-m) tall fermentation tank burst, spilling 320,000 gallons (1.2 million liters) of beer into the surrounding streets.
On January 15, the situation finally came to a head. The tank burst and a 15-foot (4.5 m) wave of molasses raced down the street at 35 miles (56 km) per hour. The masses of heavy syrup consumed everything and everyone in its path, leaving 21 dead and many more injured.
The results were devastating for Honolulu's marine life. Divers sent in to assess the damage said that the molasses had killed absolutely everything. Cleanup was impossible as it sank to the bottom and dissolved in the water.
In 2013, molasses struck again. The Honolulu harbor in Hawaii has a pipeline that pumps molasses into cargo ships for transportation. One day the pipe started leaking, dumping 233,000 gallons (882,000 liters) of molasses into the water.
In 1972, a freighter ship carrying 1,500 tons (1.4 million kilograms) of tapioca experienced a minor fire. The crew attempted to put it out, but couldn't seem to manage it. The fire continued to smolder for 25 days at sea, so they decided to stop at the harbor in Cardiff, Wales.
In 2013, a whopping 27 tons (270,000 kilograms) of brunost were being transported through a tunnel by truck in the Norwegian town of Tysfjord when it caught fire. The highly flammable cheese burned for five days while firefighters struggled with the toxic smoke filling the tunnel.
In fact, there were 90 employees trapped in the building. It was discovered that the plant's owner had previously ordered the emergency exits be locked from the outside to prevent theft, so escape was impossible. In the end, 25 people were killed and 56 were injured.
One of North Carolina's worst industrial disasters occurred in 1991 when an electrical fire broke out in a chicken processing plant. Firefighters rushed to the scene and attempted to put the fire out, unaware that there was anyone inside.
Rivers of juice (and a few floating cans) ran through the town and reached the Don river. Luckily, no one was seriously injured this time.
Sources: (Mashed) (Listverse) (BBC) (Irish Times)
In 2017, a small Russian town was literally flooded with fruit juice when an accident occurred at the local PepsiCo beverage manufacturing plant. The roof of the plant collapsed, releasing 176,000 barrels of fruit juice into the surrounding area.
The DeBruce Grain elevator in Wichita, Kansas held the Guinness World Record for being the largest in the world. It held enough grain to supply the entire US with bread for six weeks.
Tragically in 1998, grain dust ignited somewhere in the facility, which led to 10 different explosions across the elevator. By the end, seven people were dead and 10 were injured.
Grain was the cause of another disaster in Iraq in 1972. Hospitals were being flooded with people displaying symptoms like blindness, paralysis, and brain damage, while hundreds had already died of the mysterious illness.
Despite the colossal damage, the death toll was relatively low. Not a single person died due to the fire, but 13 people died of alcohol poisoning after rushing to consume the free whiskey that filled the streets.
Some of our most beloved foods have been known to cause quite a bit of trouble in the past. We've seen sugar explosions, flaming cheese, and rivers of whiskey. Sounds fun in theory, but in reality these deadly incidents caused astronomical damage!
Large-scale industrial facilities that provide for the modern diet are high-risk zones for accidents. All sorts of things can go wrong, and quite often they did. Click through this gallery to learn about some of the most unbelievable food-related catastrophes in history.
History's most bizarre food disasters
From beer flood to cheese on fire!
LIFESTYLE Curiosity
Some of our most beloved foods have been known to cause quite a bit of trouble in the past. We've seen sugar explosions, flaming cheese, and rivers of whiskey. Sounds fun in theory, but in reality these deadly incidents caused astronomical damage!
Large-scale industrial facilities that provide for the modern diet are high-risk zones for accidents. All sorts of things can go wrong, and quite often they did. Click through this gallery to learn about some of the most unbelievable food-related catastrophes in history.