10 Wild-but-True Facts about Thanksgiving Dinner

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This pumpkin spice ingredient has been around for at least 3,500 years...

and is a uniquely American spice mix with somewhat of a cult following in the US. In 2019, annual sales of pumpkin spice-flavored goods reached almost $512 million.

Made with cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ginger, cloves and allspice, it imparts a combination of warm, fragrant flavors to sweet and savory recipes, and it's used religiously to flavor pumpkin pies every Thanksgiving. Nutmeg, one of the essential ingredients, has been around for an estimated 3,500 years.

According to history.com, archaeologists in Indonesia found some of the spice's residue on ancient ceramic pottery shards believed to be around that age. No need to be heavy-handed with it, though. Studies have found that as much as two teaspoons of nutmeg (10 grams) can be poisonous if consumed all at once.