Pickle Facts for Kids

A Picture of a Jar Full of Pickles
  • Name: Pickle, Pickles
  • Type of Food: Vegetable
  • Produced From: Cucumbers
  • Total Calories: 14 (one, 4″ long, 135 grams)
  • Total Fat: 0.3 grams (one, 4″ long, 135 grams)
  • Total Protein: 0.4 grams (one, 4″ long, 135 grams)
  • Total Carbohydrates: 3.1 grams (one, 4″ long, 135 grams)

26 Pickle Facts for Kids

  1. A pickle is a cucumber that has been fermented (pickled) in brine, vinegar or another solution.
  2. In other parts of the world, like Britain and Australia, a pickled is called a gherkin.
  3. Pickles can be sweet or sour depending on how the cucumbers are pickled.
  4. Sour pickles are more popular than sweet pickles, by a two to one margin.
  5. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the average American eats 8.5 pounds of pickles every year.
  6. Pickles are very high in sodium and eating just four large pickles will give you more sodium than the recommended Daily Value suggested by the FDA.
  7. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains 14 calories.
  8. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains 0.3 grams of fat.
  9. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains no cholesterol.
  10. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains 1,631 milligrams of sodium.
  11. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains 31 milligrams of potassium.
  12. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains 3.1 grams of carbohydrates.
  13. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains 1.6 grams of dietary fiber.
  14. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains 1.4 grams of sugar.
  15. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains <1 gram of protein.
  16. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains 5% of the recommended Daily Value of vitamin A.
  17. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains 2% of the recommended Daily Value of vitamin C.
  18. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains 2% of the recommended Daily Value of iron.
  19. One large pickle (4 inches, 135 grams) contains 1% of the recommended Daily Value of magnesium.
  20. In the United States of America, November 14th is known as National Pickle Day.
  21. It’s said that the crunch of a good pickle can be heard 25 feet away.
  22. Cleopatra VII Philopator, commonly referred to as Cleopatra, was the queen of Egypt between 51 and 30 BC. She believed that her health legendary beauty was a result of having pickles in her diet.
  23. Christopher Columbus used pickles during his voyage that discovered North America. The pickles he brought on the voyage were rationed out to his sailors, and it helped prevent them from getting scurvy.
  24. The United States government during World War Two rationed pickles. Forty percent of all the pickles produced in the nation were sent to the armed forces.
  25. H. J. Heinz, the founder of the H. J. Heinz company, gave away over one million pickles to customers at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. This big marketing gambit proved to be a huge success for his company.
  26. Can pickles make you a better football player? The Philadelphia Eagles think so! They played the Dallas Cowboys in September 2000 during a sweltering heat wave. The Eagles beat the Cowboys 41 to 14 and credited their win to drinking large amounts of pickle juice.

Additional Resources on Pickles

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