14 Fake Foods We've Been Tricked Into Thinking Are Real

You can't believe everything you see on the internet, but there are plenty of viral fake foods we've been tricked into thinking are real (at least for a few seconds). Some of us never question these outlandish foods, while others of us rush to investigate whether what we're seeing is real.

According to Verywell Mind, we're hardwired for negative bias, so we tend to perceive negative news as more likely to be true than positive news. It's no wonder that viral fake foods that seem the grossest are the ones people are less likely to question. Somehow, we're tricked into believing Oscar Mayer is selling licorice-flavored HalloWieners or that there might really be Hidden Valley Pumpkin Spice Ranch Dressing. Meanwhile, we're more skeptical that Butterbeer Oreos might be real because they seem too good to be true.

Considering all the grocery products that are discontinued every year, it should be obvious that companies only keep and produce products that will sell. So, if you're disgusted by the idea of a product like Funyuns Mountain Dew, there's a good chance it would have never passed through the product-testing phase in a real food company. With this reality in mind, let's take a look at all the food hoaxes that have still managed to fool some of us.

Adding flavor to mayonnaise is tricky business. A Mashed survey revealed that 54% of mayonnaise eaters prefer plain to flavored mayo, although 16% said spicy mayo was their favorite. At the bottom of the list were garlic and dijon mayo flavors. But there was one type of mayo for which nobody voted: mayo with Oreos.

In June 2021, the internet was abuzz, sharing a photo of Heinz Mayoreo in a realistic-looking bottle. The first photo was shot against a grocery store backdrop, so it seemed legitimate. But certainly, this wasn't a flavor anyone wanted, right? A Heinz spokesperson assured Snopes it wasn't real, saying, "We do not produce Mayoreo."

In November 2021, food meme creator @DoctorPhotograph Instagrammed a second pic of Mayoreo, saying, "This bottle of Mayoreo... is made of glue and crushed-up crayons ... [with] the sticker label from yours truly for $6. DM me if you'd like one." So, it turns out that you, too, could own a bottle of Mayoreo to alarm visitors who dare open your fridge and peruse your condiments.

If there's one flavor you would never expect for alfredo sauce, it's peppermint. If you're feeling dubious about the prospect of experiencing peppermint in a sauce made from cream and parmesan cheese, you're not alone. When a photo of Ragú Peppermint Alfredo made the rounds on social media during the winter holiday season of 2021, nobody was impressed (via Facebook). The label didn't even feature herbaceous mint sprigs, which might sorta make sense. Instead it had peppermint candies and candy canes. So, the idea of peppermint candy in an alfredo sauce was even more off-putting.

Just to ensure the product wasn't real, Snopes emailed the Mizkan company, which makes Ragú sauces, to see what it had to say. The response was, "We have NOT launched this product and have no plans at this time to do so ... Our guess is that a holiday elf, having some fun on social media, may have come up with the peppermint-alfredo-sauce concept. And while it's certainly festive and creative, it might not be a fan favorite at mealtimes." Indeed. Not very many (if any) Ragú fans were going to want this product on their pasta. Mashed previously rated Ragu Classic Alfredo Sauce as the No. 6 jarred alfredo sauce, but adding peppermint candy would have certainly pushed it to last place.

The story goes that Squeez Bacon was invented after World War II by chef Vilhelm Lillefläsk in a small Swedish restaurant. The product provided a new way to process bacon with the bonus that it came in a squeeze bottle so you could use it as a condiment. It's a convincing story with intriguing historical references, but this Swedish-turned-American bacon condiment doesn't really exist. Amazingly, it was supposed to have a 12-year shelf life and need no refrigeration, which should have been a hint that it was either fake, or you should run far, far away.

It turns out that Squeez Bacon was a fake product ThinkGeek trotted out every April Fools' Day starting in 2001 (via The New York Times). In fact, some of the earlier images of Squeez Bacon had an @ThinkGeek.com label at the bottom of the image.

If you're a bacon lover who was ever disappointed to hear that Squeez Bacon doesn't exist, you'll be thrilled to learn that the British have created a Smokey Bacon Paste. The product is mainly chicken and tomato but also contains smoked bacon extract powder. So you can add a little bacon flavor to your food any time you'd like.

You're not going to believe this, but McDonald's in China really did offer a burger with Spam and crushed Oreos for one day only in 2020. McDonald's China communications manager Abbie Xie explained the sandwich to CNN in the following way: "Luncheon meat is a trending food among youngsters nowadays. It has a very strong meaty and satisfying texture. The flavorful and crispy Oreo, on the other hand, is a snack youngsters are familiar with. By creatively combining the two foods, it doesn't only showcase the collision of tastes and textures, it is also quite topical socially." McDonald's sold most of its 400,000 Oreo Spam burgers by noon. Reactions to the flavor were mixed, but one taster said, "I thought the sweetness and the savory wouldn't match but it was unexpectedly harmonious and tasty."

Since Spam Oreo burgers did so well in China, it wouldn't be too surprising if Oreo had launched a Spam Oreo cookie in China in response. However, so far, it hasn't.

The original source of the Spam Oreo meme is a Facebook page called Hawaii Food Porn, a site devoted to viral Hawaiian foods with "photos that make you go OMG so ONO!" It's always a possibility that the Spam Oreos photo that started circulating on social media in May 2015 was an inspiration for the McDonald's Spam and Oreo experiment in China. Fiction inspires fact sometimes.

In Islam, halal foods are ones that are allowed and prepared according to Islamic law. Muslims have laws that specify how animals for food can be slaughtered. A special blessing prayer must also be a part of the slaughtering process.

There's been an image circulating on the internet since at least 2007 showing a product labeled as "halal," with a sticker from the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. The only problem is that the product is Pasar Fresh Pork, and pork is a meat that is never considered halal.

To assure the public the company hadn't engaged in food fraud, Seah Kian Peng, the CEO of NTUC FairPrice, issued a statement, saying the image was an "insensitive" and "mischievous hoax" that was "done in poor taste." Peng further said, "We are mindful of the serious religious implications of this matter and regard this as a willful act of mischief" (via Snopes). There has never been and will never be such a thing as halal pork.

In 1996, Pringles told the world in a brilliant marketing scheme that "once you pop, you can't stop" (via YouTube). So, it's virtually impossible to eat just one Pringle, right? Yet, in December 2021, a short video clip hit Instagram, showing a person taking a very short can of Pringles out of their grocery bag, peeling back the stay-fresh seal, and emptying out the contents: a single Pringle. In fact, the can is labeled Pringle Just One. So, it has to be real, right? But why would Pringles release such an evil product when the company told us back in the '90s that it's impossible to stop eating Pringles?

Some people on Reddit were convinced it was real. One commented about how wasteful the packaging was for just one Pringle. Meanwhile, others thought "Just One" on the label must mean that there was just one serving inside, not just one chip. But that couldn't be right since the 1.4-ounce can of Pringles already contains just one serving.

It turns out that this product, the video, and the subsequent viral images were all from the imagination of @doctorphotograph, who has become a master at tricking us with fake viral foods. As convincing as the video is, Pringles never released a can with just one chip in it. The can and packaging were all created by @doctorphotograph for the amusement of all the gullible people on the internet.

There's a scientific reason you can't get enough pumpkin spice, and it's related to positive associations we have with the fall holidays. To try to capture that feeling, many people jump on any product labeled pumpkin spice. Granted, a portion of them end up in the trash after one bite, which is what we'd expect would happen with Hidden Valley Pumpkin Spice Ranch Dressing. Interestingly enough, typing "pumpkin spice ranch dressing" into your favorite search engine will yield a few real recipes for this abomination. Luckily, if this flavor of Hidden Valley Ranch activates your gag reflex, you don't have to worry about finding it in a grocery store near you or having it offered at your favorite restaurant in the fall.

The idea that someone would release a pumpkin spice ranch dressing among all the other pumpkin spice fall products seemed realistic enough that the KXRB radio station out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, wrote a blog post about it. But, alas, anyone hoping to find pumpkin spice ranch dressing in the wild was fooled yet again by the internet food prankster from Instagram, @doctorphotograph.