Painted olives, tainted sugar top Interpol list of phoney food

PARIS— It reads like the world’s worst menu.

Italian olives painted with copper sulphate solution, Sudanese sugar tainted with fertilizer, and hundreds of thousands of litres of bogus alcoholic drinks top Interpol’s annual tally of toxic and counterfeit food seized by police agencies across the world.

A statement Wednesday by Interpol said that a record 10,000 tonnes have been recovered across 57 countries.

The operation took place between November 2015 and February 2016 and involved police, customs, regulatory bodies and private-sector partners. Checks were done at stores and markets, transportation hubs and manufacturing locations.

Although some busts have been previously reported, the haul of bogus diet supplements, adulterated honey and formalin-drenched chicken guts makes for stomach-churning reading. According to Wednesday’s Interpol-Europol police release:

British authorities seized 10,000 litres of fake or adulterated wine, whisky and vodka;

In Sudan, nine tonnes of counterfeit sugar were seized. It was found to be contaminated with fertilizer;

More than 36,000 litres of illicit alcohol were seized in Burundi. Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition and grenades were also found;

In Thailand, police seized 30 tonnes of meat unfit for human consumption that had been destined for supermarkets;

A man who was smuggling dietary supplements labelled a natural product, but which contained harmful ingredients, was arrested in South Korea;

Officials in Indonesia seized a shipment of chicken intestines preserved in the prohibited food additive formalin;

A warehouse full of sardine cans was found in Bolivia along with counterfeit labels from a respected Peruvian brand.

“Fake and dangerous food and drink threaten the health and safety of people around the world, who are often unsuspectingly buying these potentially dangerous goods,” Michael Ellis, head of Interpol’s Trafficking in Illicit Goods and Counterfeiting unit, said in a statement.