A staggering 40,000lbs of extra-firm tofu was spilled in an accident near a small town in Missouri and left in the open for weeks, creating a smell that local officials called “unforgettable”. The cleanup – dubbed the “Great Battle of the Jerome Tofu Monster” – began near the town of Jerome, in south-western Missouri, on 1 March, when a tractor-trailer vehicle with a cargo of tofu crashed off a local highway and plunged into a ravine. No one was hurt, but blocks of tofu spilled out of the trailer. The effect was a smell that horrified local officials assigned to clean up the mess. Last year, Doolittle firefighters also had to respond to a crash in which a truck carrying 40,000lbs of ribeye steaks burst into flames.

Source: The Guardian March 30, 2026 16:51 UTC