''Eating History'' is an American

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

that airs on the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Dis ...

and premiered in 2020. In the series, collectors Josh Macuga and Gary "Old Smokey" Mitchell try vintage foods and related products, such as 1970s

Fritos Fritos is an American brand of corn chips and dipping sauces that was created in 1932 by Charles Elmer Doolin and produced since 1961 by the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo. Fritos are made by deep-frying extruded whole cornmeal, unlike the simi ...

, 1913

hardtack Hardtack (or hard tack) is a simple type of dense biscuit or cracker made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Hardtack is inexpensive and long-lasting. It is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voy ...

Pepsodent Pepsodent is an American brand of toothpaste with the minty flavor derived from sassafras. The brand was purchased by Unilever in 1942 and is still owned by the company outside of the United States and Canada. In 2003, Unilever sold the rights t ...

tooth powder Dentifrices, including toothpowder and toothpaste, are agents used along with a toothbrush to clean and polish natural teeth. They are supplied in paste, powder, gel, or liquid form. Many dentifrices have been produced over the years, some focus ...

, and

New Coke New Coke was the unofficial name of a reformulation of the soft drink Coca-Cola, introduced by The Coca-Cola Company in April 1985. It was renamed Coke II in 1990 and discontinued in July 2002. By 1985, Coca-Cola had been losing market share t ...

Cast and crew

Hosts Gary Mitchell and Josh Macuga met through

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

. Gary Mitchell became interested in vintage foods via

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ch ...

: he collected and smoked old cigarettes and other tobacco-related products, giving him the nickname "Old Smokey". This, together with his interest in his grandfather's time in the military, led to eating preserved vintage

military rations Military rations are food intended to feed military personnel. Types of military rations include garrison rations and field rations. They may be used where fresh meals are not available. Australia * Combat Ration One Man (CR1M) Canada * In ...

. He started trying a variety of military rations from different countries and time periods and made YouTube videos about it. Through this interest, he met Ken Conley, who suggested that he might be interested in hosting ''Eating History'' when the series was being developed. Josh Macuga began collecting old food because of his family: when he was a child, his father and his uncle collected old bottles and other containers. Like Mitchell, he has a YouTube channel. The production team includes a medic and a

toxicologist Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...

, who do not allow the stars to eat foods that they deem unsafe, for example because of the risk of

botulism Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by a toxin produced by the bacterium '' Clostridium botulinum''. The disease begins with weakness, blurred vision, feeling tired, and trouble speaking. This may then be followed by weakn ...

. The series is produced by

Sharp Entertainment Sharp Entertainment is a television production company based in Manhattan, New York. Founded by Matt Sharp in 2003, they have produced thousands of hours of programing in reality television. They produce TLC's top rated television franchise, ''90 ...

Episodes

The series has one season consisting of ten episodes.

Reception

Some viewers have described ''Eating History'' premise as a gimmick, but Mitchell says that the series also educates viewers: "There’s so much history behind everything we encounter."

References

External links

* * {{History shows American documentary television series Food reality television series A&E (TV network) original programming 2020 television documentary series 2020 American television series debuts 2020s American documentary television series