<div><p>You should pay a lot more attention to what you put in your toaster. A lot of people are reporting house fires after they left a popular breakfast food in their toasters, not realizing that it was extremely flammable. </p><p>Pastries are a quick and easy breakfast treat for the kids - all it takes is a few minutes to warm them up. But if you've ever eaten a Pop-Tart, you'll want to know about the hidden dangers, and it has nothing to do with the nutrition content. </p><p>In 1992, <a href="http://hellogiggles.com/pop-tarts-apparently-flammable-please-not-set-fire-home/">Thomas Nangle</a> accidentally got a Pop-Tart stuck in his friend's toaster. Within minutes, it caught fire and damaged the kitchen, prompting Nangle to take Kellogg's to court. The company paid him <a href="http://hellogiggles.com/pop-tarts-apparently-flammable-please-not-set-fire-home/">$2,400 for damages</a> and called it a day.</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/poptarts.png" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/poptarts_GH_content_550px.png 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/poptarts_GH_content_650px.png 650w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>The Krazy Coupon Lady</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>A similar incident happened to a woman in 2000. She left Pop-Tarts to warm in the toaster while bringing her young kids to preschool, and returned to find a house fire. As a result, she <a href="http://hellogiggles.com/pop-tarts-apparently-flammable-please-not-set-fire-home/">sued for $100,000</a>. </p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>Now, you might be thinking <em>anything</em> that gets lodged against the hot element of a toaster would catch fire, but Pop-Tarts actually are much more prone to catching on fire than a piece of bread or bagel. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20131111-strawberry-pop-tart-thumb-1500xauto-384042.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20131111-strawberry-pop-tart-thumb-1500xauto-384042_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20131111-strawberry-pop-tart-thumb-1500xauto-384042_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20131111-strawberry-pop-tart-thumb-1500xauto-384042_GH_content_750px.jpg 750w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20131111-strawberry-pop-tart-thumb-1500xauto-384042_GH_content_850px.jpg 850w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20131111-strawberry-pop-tart-thumb-1500xauto-384042_GH_content_950px.jpg 950w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20131111-strawberry-pop-tart-thumb-1500xauto-384042_GH_content_1050px.jpg 1050w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20131111-strawberry-pop-tart-thumb-1500xauto-384042_GH_content_1150px.jpg 1150w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20131111-strawberry-pop-tart-thumb-1500xauto-384042_GH_content_1250px.jpg 1250w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20131111-strawberry-pop-tart-thumb-1500xauto-384042_GH_content_1350px.jpg 1350w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20131111-strawberry-pop-tart-thumb-1500xauto-384042_GH_content_1450px.jpg 1450w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>Serious Eats</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>Pop-Tarts are a non-perishable, shelf-stable food, which means they need to have low water content and ingredients to deter the growth of mold and bacteria. Unfortunately, that creates a dry environment, which can be a perfect fire-starter. </p><p>That's not all. In addition to low water activity, the ingredients in Pop-Tarts allow fire to burn for longer. </p><div><div><div><amp-youtube height="9" width="16" layout="responsive" data-videoid="mUpeA2cD9dk"></amp-youtube></div></div></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>Gavin Sacks, associate professor of food science at Cornell, <a href="http://hellogiggles.com/pop-tarts-apparently-flammable-please-not-set-fire-home/2/">said</a>: "This product is ten percent fat by weight, with most of that coming from oils. It's going to ignite like an old-fashioned oil lantern."</p><p>So that could be why you always burn your tongue when you eat a Pop-Tart that's only been in the toaster for a few minutes...</p><p>Maybe warm your Pop-Tarts in the oven from now on?</p><p><strong>SHARE this article with your friends to keep them safe!</strong></p></div>