Why your jar of oregano isn’t quite what it seems
AROUND a quarter of packs of dried oregano bought in shops are bulked up with cheaper ingredients, according to a study.
Nineteen out of 78 products tested by experts at Which? contained ingredients such as olive or myrtle leaves, making up between 30 per cent and 70 per cent of the contents.
The researchers say their findings raise suspicions that other dried herbs and spices on supermarket shelves may not be what they seem.
The discovery provides new evidence of a widespread food fraud where producers and manufacturers are cashing in by pulling the wool over the eyes of shoppers. Problems of food fraud hit the headlines two years ago with the discovery that horsemeat was being sold as beef in ready meals and burgers by supermarkets and at least one restaurant chain.
The tests on oregano were carried out by Professor Chris Elliott, director of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University and author of the report into food fraud commissioned by the Government following the 2013 horsemeat scandal.
He said: ‘Clearly we have identified a major problem and it may well reflect issues with other herbs and spices that enter the British Isles through complex supply chains. Much better controls are needed to protect the consumer from purchasing heavily contaminated products.
‘There is always the potential for food fraud to lead to severe illness or, in the worst case, death due to consumption of food that is not what it claims to be.’
Food fraud has been widespread for years. Recently, Indian restaurants have been found selling lamb curries which contain no lamb, while fish and chip shops have been passing off cheap shark catfish, which is farmed in the rivers of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, as battered cod.
Which? did not name the ‘bulkedup’ oregano brands identified in its survey, but has passed details to the Food Standards Agency which set up a Food Crime Unit following the horsemeat scandal.
Richard Lloyd, executive director at Which?, said: ‘It’s impossible for any shopper to tell, without the help of scientists, what herbs they’re actually buying. Retailers, producers and enforcement officers must step up checks to stamp out food fraud.’