Sometimes, accidents happen. And while they can be scary when a truck is involved, having food become part of it, at the very least, makes for some entertaining headlines.
When a food spill happens on a major road, it can cause a lot of issues. But, residents seem more forgiving if it’s a truck filled with ice cream than a truck filled with IKEA furniture. Maybe that’s because an ice cream spill adds a bit of whimsy to a situation, along with a panic — is there any way that the ice cream could survive such a catastrophe?
The weird thing is that food spills happen a lot. It seems like if it can fit into a truck, it was once spilled out of that same truck in some sort of accident. It also seems to be somewhat rare for people to get hurt in these food accidents, which makes these incidents more humorous than tragic. Usually, it’s just the truck that tips based on road conditions or speed, and not a full-on collision with another vehicle. The clean-up crew usually sees the fun in every food spill, even if the spill in question is something that’s almost impossible to clean up. Like, syrup.
Here are some of the most outrageous highway food spill stories around.
1. The Idaho Potato Crash
Everyone knows that Idaho is the best place to get potatoes. But, in order to fully enjoy those potatoes, they need to actually make the trip from the field to the grocery store. In 2007, one truck failed to deliver.
So, how many potatoes were lost? Oh, just 30 tons.
A lot of the potatoes actually mashed themselves in the process, which — I’d imagine — is even harder to clean up.
The spill caused road and traffic delays, but kept moving, despite a lane being blocked by the spuds.
Drivers were urged to use caution and a man died as a result of injuries sustained when his car struck the rear of the truck hauling all those potatoes.
2. The Louisiana Corn Dog Spill
Big rig wreck causes corndog spill in Shreveport. VIDEO - http://t.co/RXq4BxHqW9 pic.twitter.com/Fa7BDpyNxn
— WBRZ News (@WBRZ) March 25, 2014
Back in 2014, a truck filled with 40,000 corn dogs spilled in Shreveport, Louisiana. The driver of the truck accidentally flipped on the road. The good news? He was okay, and didn’t even get a citation for the incident.
The bad news? Well, it took several hours for people to clean up those corn dogs.
In fact, it reportedly took cleaning crews about nine hours to make I-220 west corndog-free. There’s a good chance that the driver in this accident never had a corndog again, based on bad memories.
Some locals, however, were apparently happy stock up on the free food.
“There were some reports that passersby were coming in and loading up on some of those corn dogs for dinner,” Cpl. Marcus Hines told WWLTV. “It’s been a big mess but a lot of folks will be eating pretty good this afternoon … Everything you need to make a good corn dog was in the middle of the roadway.”
3. The Great Catfish Spill
Can you imagine what it must smell like to have loose fish line the streets? It actually happened, and photos of the event later turned into a hoax.
People stated that catfish were raining from the sky, using the truck photos as “proof.”
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmAF5cBxvZI"]But lucky, Snopes set the record straight. After the truck’s cargo door opened, 13,600 pounds of catfish fell out, littering the streets.
4. Milk On The Highway
#HOUTRAFFIC: Right lane still blocked with spilled milk - N. Fwy northbound approaching I-10. Slow in area. #abc13 pic.twitter.com/zTrUftDVMU
— ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston) February 8, 2016
Speaking of smelly spills, it’s hard enough to leave milk out on the counter for an hour. Imagine what it must smell like when a bunch of it is dumped on the highway.
The accident happened in Santa Clarita, back in 2013.
The accident closed down all southbound lanes. One person was reported as being injured, but since the accident happened at night, that stat is actually pretty miraculous.
In 2019, a truck spilled milk all over the road near Jacksonville carrying almond milk.
People were also crying over spilled milk, when a driver of a big rig lost control and crashed, spilling its load of milk in Glendale, in 2014.
5. 42,000 Pounds Of Beer
🎶 42,000 pounds of beer on the ramp, 42,000 pounds of beer. 🎶 https://t.co/EpOlcKh6bp
— The Denver Post (@denverpost) July 17, 2017
Beer lovers may grieve this sad loss, which happened on a West Virginia highway back in 2017. After losing control and crashing into a utility pole, one driver was responsible for the destruction of many cans.
According to The Denver Post, “Durango resident Rachel Smith, who was following the truck on U.S. 160, told The Durango Herald the truck reached speeds of 60 to 65 mph.”
Smith told The Herald the driver, “who handled that truck like an absolute champ,” passed the first runaway truck ramp before using the second ramp to stop.
But, this accident is a bummer for another reason.
Newsweek reports that the beer will likely have lasting, negative effects on the plants in the surrounding area. Beer has been known to stunt plant growth.
6. Rainbow On The Road
Hundreds of Skittles meant for cattle feed spill on Wisconsin freeway https://t.co/bgRbORx2m3 pic.twitter.com/PtukgZGEes
— NewsTellerr (@newstellerr) January 20, 2017
It might sound like a beautiful surprise to hear that there was a truck accident involving Skittles. But the weird thing about this accident, which occurred in 2017, is the fact that only red Skittles were involved.
“There’s no little ‘S’ on them, but you can definitely smell, it’s a distinct Skittles smell,” Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt told CNN affiliate WISN.
There’s another weird part of this story.
The Skittles weren’t on their way to a special candy shop. They were actually on the way to be used as cow feed. Supposedly, reject Skittles are a less expensive alternative to other carbohydrates.
A former farmer told CNN affiliate WBAY that candy makers sell rejects to be used as cattle feed because they provide “cheap carbs.”
7. The Vegetable Oil Catastrophe
If there’s one thing that you don’t want to spill over onto a road, it’s vegetable oil. But sadly, that happened in Texas back in 2011. The spill happened at 5: 30 p.m, meaning that it was a huge disruption to traffic.
So, how did it happen?
Supposedly, the cap that was securing the vegetable oil loosened. Delish reports it was a little more complicated than that and might have been due to unknown truck damage, which makes more sense.
“The truck did not appear to have crashed and was not at the scene when teams called in to clean up the mess arrived, but the spill still managed to block traffic for several hours,” the site wrote.
That’s so awful.
8. The Maryland Flour Incident
What’s one spill that can’t be solved with water? Flour. Just imagine the paste it’d create. Residents of Laurel, Maryland found this out back in 2004.
So, what did crews do to get rid of the mess?
They used leaf blowers and brooms to try to get rid of the mess.
Delish points out, crews didn’t want to create an even “larger (and muckier) mess they could” by hosing the tons of flour off the highway.
It sounds like clean up for this accident may have been surprisingly fun.
9. Chardonnay That Never Saw The Light Of Day
The semitrailer carrying it tipped over in Hudson Valley, New York, back in 2013.
The trailer had separated from the tractor unit, rolled over and skidded on its side, spilling bottles of the white wine onto the limited-access highway, police spokesman Sgt. John Antonelli told United Press International.
This is yet another upsetting crash, but a little worse than the beer incident for one reason — this one left glass all over the road.
Broken green bottles were “all over the roadway,” Antonelli said.
The incident happened after the semitrailer was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer.
Aside from the littered road, nobody was reported as being hurt in the accident. That’s the most important part.
10. One Sticky Situation
When you think about food that seems impossible to clean up, syrup might come to mind. Unfortunately, it’s been spilled on highways quite a bit. One of the craziest situations happened this year, in New Orleans.
According to Fox News, it was reported to be molasses — which is downright horrible.
Supposedly this one was the driver’s fault. They were cited for improperly loading their truck, which likely would have prevented this.
The other citations was for violating size and weight limits.
The type of syrup was not confirmed by police, but many Twitter users agreed it was molasses.
11. Uh Oh, Oreos.
Having a road littered with Oreos sounds like a dream that a cookie-loving child would dream up. But, it actually happened in Illinois back in 2008.
The driver of the truck fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a median, which caused cookies to spill everywhere.
It’s just a reminder that truck drivers are often under a load of pressure to meet deadlines, and should always be careful.
In case you were wondering, the Oreos that were scattered were reportedly Double Stuf and it was about 14 tons worth of product.
“The boxes came out of the trailer and boxes were ripped open,” he Illinois State Police Sgt. Brian Mahoney told the Associated Press.
12. Sweeter Than Honey
There may be a contender as to what’s “worse that syrup” as far as spills go — honey.
The Chicago Tribune reported a big spill back in 2010 that caused 25,000 pounds of honey to be wasted.
The driver of the truck blamed his vehicle’s brakes for locking, causing the early morning incident.
He suffered minor injuries after the jars tipped over and was cited for improper lane usage, according to Sgt. Tim Zych.
Ever wonder how to clean up road honey? The cleaning crews supposedly used sand to help tackle the job.
13. That’s A Lot Of Ice Cream
An ice cream spill did happen at one point, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Fans of Edy’s Ice Cream might want to avoid hearing about this one, because it’s just too sad.
40,000 pounds of vanilla and caramel praline crunch were damaged in the disaster.
According to the Journal Gazette, “The crash itself did not cause ice cream to spill onto the interstate. But when two large tow trucks used cables to drag the rig closer to the shoulder, hundreds of 1.5-quart containers – the kind you’d see in a grocery store – came out of the top of the trailer, which had cracked open.”
But, this story does have a sweet ending.
Based on the time of year, and the way the ice cream spilled out of the truck, a lot of it was still salvageable. That’s a rarity in situations like this.
14. The Greek Yogurt Spill Of 2012
Ever wonder what 18 tons of Chobani yogurt looks like? Residents of Chenango, New York were able to find out after a speeding truck dumped the yogurt on the highway close to a decade ago.
The accident happened late on a Monday, and crews were still cleaning up the mess into Tuesday.
The 24-year-old driver was okay, but was cited for the incident. It’s possible he thinks about it every time a Chobani commercial airs.
Of course, the westbound lanes of I-88 was closed at the time after the crash and during the cleaning.
15. The Fresh Cranberry Accident
When it’s freshly picked food, the accident seems even more sad.
So much love and dedication went into growing the cranberries that’d later be mashed on the road near Kronenwetter, Wisconsin back in 2012.
But the weird thing?
This was the second cranberry truck accident that week, according to Jalopnik.
It’s a little weird to have the same thing happen twice, but if you remember any sort of cranberry shortage around that time, now you know why.
16. The Chicken Tenders Disaster
This chicken tenders spill only happened earlier this year. After the truck had its accident, people tried to profit from it by stealing from the truck.
It got so bad that the Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency actually had to release a statement about it.
It’s one of those things that seems weird and alarming, but hey — who knows how you would have acted had you have been there.
Free is free, and chicken is chicken.
Still, it’s probably a little safer to grab yours from the grocery store instead.
17. A Holiday Ham To Remember
Back in 2013, 40,000 pounds of holiday ham were dumped on a highway near Atlanta, Georgia.
But, people weren’t running by to grab free ham for a very important reason.
The product was completely tainted with leaking diesel after the accident occurred.
So, what happened?
The truck driver thought they had missed the exit turn, and ended up driving too fast up the ramp. Just another reminder that truck driving can be quite dangerous.
18. What Would You Like On Your Tombstone?
Pulaski Co: Frozen pizza, anyone? No injuries but cleanup will take time. Expect delays #artraffic #arnews pic.twitter.com/JBgvrNkNnZ
— Arkansas Department of Transportation (@myARDOT) August 9, 2017
Of course, when talking about food items dumped on the road that deserved a better life, you have to consider pizza.
In 2017, a truck that was carrying both Tombstone and DiGiorno crashed. Much like the ham, the poor food was covered in diesel.
The photos are pretty upsetting.
The disaster caused the highway to close, and clean-up reportedly took four hours.
What a shame.
19. Frozen Fries Everywhere
In March of 2018, Ronald McDonald was probably crying.
A big-rig in Irvine, California went over an embankment, and ended up spilling frozen McDonald’s french fries all over the place.
The good news is that the driver wasn’t hurt, and no other cars were involved.
Still, it’s sad to know that there were plenty of road fries out there that weren’t able to be enjoyed. Nobody makes a french fry like McDonald’s.
20. The River Of Chocolate
There is a river of chocolate blocking/flowing in the westbound lanes of I-40 at milepost 211, east of Flagstaff. A tanker truck carrying 40-thousand gallons of liquid chocolate rolled over. This will be a sweet cleanup! pic.twitter.com/G03eVdNQZD
— Dept. of Public Safety (@Arizona_DPS) January 14, 2019
This past January, a truck spilled a bunch of chocolate on Interstate 40 in Arizona.
How much chocolate, you may ask? Oh, just 3,500 gallons.
Surprisingly, the clean up crew dealt with the mess with smiles on their faces.
That could have been because they were able to witness something they may have only dreamed of before.
Accidents happen sometimes, but if nobody’s hurt and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience? Maybe it’s not the worst thing that could happen.
