SAMA HOOLE: Popeye cartoon character increased spinach sales by 33%. But the "spinach is high in iron" claim came from a decimal point error in 1870, miscalculating iron content by 10x until error was caught 60 years later.

It messes with nutrient uptake with other foods as well,  pic.twitter.com/Xhakmpi9d5

— Spencer B (@id8675309c) January 27, 2026

Popeye ate spinach for strength. Popeye was a cartoon character created by the canned vegetable industry in 1929 to sell more spinach during the Great Depression. It worked. Spinach sales increased 33%. The "spinach is high in iron" claim came from a decimal point error in 1870. German scientist miscalculated spinach iron content by 10x. Published it. Everyone repeated it for 60 years before someone bothered checking. Real iron content: Spinach has 2.7mg per 100g. Beef has 2.6mg per 100g. But spinach iron is non-heme (2-5% absorbed). Beef iron is heme (15-35% absorbed). So beef provides 6x more usable iron than spinach. Your childhood was influenced by cartoon propaganda created by the vegetable industry based on a mathematical error from the 1870s.

And you still think they're being honest about nutritional science. 

BTW, Wimpy, the J. Wellington Wimpy, the corpulent gentleman feigning high social status who gluttonously ate hamburger after hamburger?  Did he represent the gluttony of the elite who had endless access to meat versus the service men and workers who relied on vegetables?