COOKING CHANNEL REVEALS THE TRUTH BEHIND POPULAR FOOD MYTHS ON NEW SERIES "FOOD: FACT OR FICTION?"

Series Premieres Monday, October 26th at 10:30pm ET/7:30pm PT on Cooking Channel

NEW YORK - September 17, 2015 - Ever wonder if coffee really does stunt your growth, or if a bowl of hot chicken soup can actually cure the common cold? Or if Italians were the first to invent pizza? Host Michael McKean explores longstanding adages about food to prove as well as debunk some of the most fascinating food myths on new series Food: Fact or Fiction?, premiering Monday, October 26th at 10:30pm ET/7:30pm PT on Cooking Channel. From the truth about the most popular food remedies, to the dish on our favorite romantic recipes and aphrodisiacs, and to the real scoop about food's influence on some of the world's most famous battles, discover some tasty truths and some mouth-watering mysteries hidden in every bite!

"The revelations on Food: Fact or Fiction? will surprise viewers with mind-blowing discoveries about commonly held beliefs and the origins of some of our favorite foods," said Michael Smith, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Cooking Channel."

Throughout the six half-hour episodes, produced by Morgan Freeman's and Lori McCreary's Revelations Entertainment, a spoonful of fact and a dash of fiction that have flavored our favorite dishes will be revealed. One episode takes a look at "the most important meal of the day" to explore where that age-old saying about breakfast came from, and whether or not it is really true. Get ready to wake up and smell the facts, as we discover how our morning meals have come to taste so sinfully delicious. In another episode, we take a trip around the food globe to get to discover where beloved international dishes were really born. French Fries are fried, but are they really French? Every Chinese restaurant marks the end of the meal with fortune cookies, but was this crunchy treat really invented in China? Viewers will be stunned as we uncover the facts and the fiction about food.

Fans can explore more popular food urban legends like the five second rule, gum taking seven years to digest and more at CookingChannelTV.com/FactOrFiction, and can join the conversation on twitter using #FactOrFiction.

Michael McKean is an accomplished actor, writer, and Grammy award-winning musician, widely recognized for his first starring role as Lenny Koznowki on Laverne and Shirley and the longevity of his career. His work spans film, television, recording and the stage. Films include This is Spinal Tap, Clue, The Big Picture, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and many more. Just some of the TV shows include Saturday Night Live, X-Files, Family Tree and currently the hit series Better Call Saul. His love of the theater has brought him to stages in NY, Los Angeles, Cambridge, Williamstown and London with his most recent NY appearances including The Band Wagon, All The Way, Gore Vidal's The Best Man, King Lear, Our Town, Superior Donuts, The Homecoming, The Pajama Game, A Second Hand Memory, and Hairspray. He won a Theatre World Award for Rupert Holmes's Accomplice; Grammy Award for the title song A Mighty Wind, written with Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy; Oscar nomination for Best Song A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow, written with his wife, Annette O'Toole. Michael is the only million dollar Celebrity Jeopardy champion.

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COOKING CHANNEL (www.cookingchanneltv.com) is an entertainment brand dedicated to today's passionate food lover. For food people, by food people, Cooking Channel is the answer to a growing hunger for more content devoted to food and cooking in every dimension from global cuisines to international travel, history and unconventional how-to's. Cooking Channel is part of the media portfolio of Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also includes Food Network (www.foodnetwork.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com), and Great American Country (www.gactv.com).