Beware of Counterfeit Foods!

by Monika Bartyzel, Posted Jan 21st 2009 @ 11:02AM

I'm starting to think that the myriad of food woes out there (hello, China!) are just here to get us off our butts and producing our own food, lawn by lawn. On the bright side, this latest news bit isn't about plastics in our beloved foods, but rather foods that aren't quite what we think they are.

USA Today recently posted a piece on counterfeit foods in the US market. It seems that with the increase of food safety issues, the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration have been back-burnering issues of economic adulteration. What sort of issues, you ask?

Seafood -- Some are selling cheap, farm-raised salmon as wild Alaska salmon.

Olive Oil -- This is something Slashfood has posted about before.

Honey -- When the FDA caught on to the inclusion of cane sugar and corn syrup, beet sugar began to be added to the mix.

Maple Syrup -- Some producers are diluting the syrups with water or sugar, "trying to get more bang for the buck."

Vanilla Extract -- There's an extract that comes out of Mexico and Latin America that is not only fake, but made with coumarin -- a toxic substance banned in US foods since 1954.

Then again, shopping smart, and from local or nearby producers who can tell you about their product will usually stem these problems. Speaking of which, I think it's time to crack into the fresh maple syrup I just got.

Filed Under: Food News
Tags: counterfeit foods, CounterfeitFoods, featured