Food Frauds
Here are some foods where adulterants may be lurking in what you eat every day:
Food no longer seems as safe as they appear on the surface. With rising prices and growing complexity of supply chains, we are living in a world where we increasingly face the risk of food frauds.
When food is intentionally sold in the market to deceive the consumer to make a profit, it is known as a food fraud. This happens when food which we eat every day are packed with things that are not supposed to be there or replaced with imitation or harmful alternatives. ‘Imposter ingredients’, as these alternatives are called, together with other contaminants sometimes go undetected by food authorities and consumers. Sometimes, food companies deliberately describe food they sell falsely or sell goods that are past their expiry dates. Greed becomes the order of the day when unscrupulous food companies illegally substitute primary ingredients with inexpensive ones and falsify information to cut costs.
1. Tea
Researchers have found that tea can be impure or polluted. They can contain colouring additives or even coloured saw dust, as well as leaves from other plants.
2. Fish
Can fish be faked? Some fish sold in restaurants and in their frozen varieties at the supermarket can be fraudulent. Companies and restaurants may claim that they are serving or selling snapper or cod but researchers have found that cheaper alternatives like the tilapia or sea bream are served or sold instead.
3. Milk
In 2008, worldwide safety concerns were sparked when extremely high levels of melamine (an industrial chemical) was found in powdered milk in China. The situation escalated to such a scale that 300,000 babies fell ill and at least six babies were reported to have died as a result. The dairy suppliers of the Sanlu Group subsequently declared bankrupt and two people from its top management were sentenced to death while 17 others were severely dealt with by the Chinese government.
4. Honey
A tub labelled ‘HONEY’ may contain sugar syrup, corn syrup, glucose, fructose or beet sugar – instead of honey. You may see labels with pictures of bees and their honeycombs, but nothing inside the jars have been collected by those buzzing insects.
5. Processed meat
Ever since the horsemeat scandal surfaced in January 2013, people are starting to be wary of the contents of processed meat. Horsemeat was being sold as beef all across Europe and it was later revealed that international criminals have been manipulating the complex supply chains for processed meat products, hence the contamination.
6. Olive oil
We all know that there is no healthier alternative than oil that is extracted from olives. Unfortunately, researchers have found that imposter ingredients like corn oil, hazelnut oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, walnut oil, palm oil and sunflower oil can be found in a bottle that claims to be ‘Extra Virgin Olive Oil’.
7. Fruit juice
Not everything that is juice is freshly squeezed and packed with vitamins. Juices can be artificially concocted. Artificial juices are made of manmade flavours, sweeteners and colouring additives that imitate the flavours of original fruit. They are high in sugar content and can cause tooth decay and hyperactivity in children. So if you think you are sipping a nice glass of orange juice made from the most delicious tasting oranges, you may be getting artificially flavoured orange water instead.