Fraudulent Foods, Buyers Beware!

When you buy a food product at the grocery store, or when you order something off of the menu at a restaurant, it is only natural to expect that the food is going to be exactly what you intended on purchasing. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Due to the rising number of ‘food fraud’ cases, or rather the mislabeling of food products, the independent organization, U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention, created the Food Fraud Database in April 2012. This database is an informative compilation of food ingredient fraud reports that allows the public to search through hundreds of records.  

Common Foods that are Mislabeled

According to an abc.com news report, Exclusive: Group Finds More Fake Ingredients in Popular Foods, fruit juices, specifically pomegranate juice, has been found to be substituted with other juices and sugary water to cut down on costs. According to testing conducted by the National Consumers League, some brands of lemon juice have been discovered to contain as low as 10 percent of real lemon juice. Honey is also a victim of fraud, being substituted with high fructose corn syrup. Coffee and spices in a ground form easily allows for fillers to be added. Also, some brands of extra virgin olive oil are nothing more than low quality vegetables oils costing shoppers the same price as if it were made with high quality ingredients.

Seafood Sham

Seafood is a common industry that is heavily involved with mislabeling its products. Have you ever ordered white tuna at a sushi restaurant? Well, according to a five month study conducted by the Boston Globe testing fish from restaurants, grocery stores and markets, all 23 samples of white tuna were mislabeled, and in many cases, the fish was actually escolar. Escolar is a lower quality and inexpensive oily fish known to cause digestive issues. Even worse, 24 out of 26 samples of red snapper tested were also mislabeled. According to an abc.com news report, Fake Fish: Experts Say Mislabeling of Seafood is Risky Business, Therion International, a leading company in DNA-based testing, found that after testing thousands of fish samples across the country, nearly 50 percent of the fish being served was not what was listed on the menu.

Consumer Effects 

Not only does this fraud mean that the consumer is being swindled, but there are also public health concerns associated with this illegal practice. If a food is being substituted with cheaper ingredients, it does not speak well for having confidence in the level of quality standards that are being instituted at a manufacturing facility. In order to become a smarter shopper, buy processed foods from well-known brands that you can trust for having a reputation for quality products. For instance, if you are looking to buy a bottle of olive oil and actually want to buy olive oil, choose a well-known brand that it a bit more expensive, rather than going to a discount store and buying a generic, unknown brand.

According to the USP’s senior director of food standards in the nydailynews.com report, Food fraud alert!, if a consumer is ever in doubt about a product’s ingredients, they ought to check the USP’s database or contact the manufacturer for further details. Also, keep in mind that if a normally expensive specialty product is advertised at a store for a bargain of a price, there is a likely chance that the product’s label is not telling the truth. Whenever possible, buy unground and unprocessed foods, as fillers are much easier to hide in ground products like coffee beans and spices. In terms of juices, buy fresh lemons over bottled lemon juice, and to go a step further and try making your own fruit juice with a juicer to ensure you are getting nothing but the best.