Janet Bostwick wrote:
> Faux pas! Food fraud on the rise
>
> If you are what you eat, you might be having an identity crisis.
>
> A new study on food fraud was released Wednesday morning by U.S.
> Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), a scientific nonprofit organization
> that helps set standards for the "quality, safety and benefit" of
> foods and medicines. The group runs a searchable online database of
> food fraud reports at foodfraud.org and nearly 800 new records were
> added as part of the study - a 60% increase from last year.
>
> Food fraud, as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
> is the adulteration, dilution or mislabeling of goods. USP further
> defines food fraud in the study as "the fraudulent addition of
> nonauthentic substances or removal or replacement of authentic
> substances without the purchaser's knowledge for economic gain to the
> seller."
>
> The new records show that the most commonly fraudulent products are
> olive oil, milk, saffron, honey and coffee.
>
> Tea, fish, clouding agents (used in fruit juices, like lemon, to make
> products look freshly squeezed), maple syrup and spices (turmeric,
> black pepper and chili pepper) were also top imposters.
>
> Most of the reported food fraud was committed by producers adding
> fillers (i.e. other plant leaves to tea leaves), mixing in less
> expensive spices with high value spices or watering down liquids.
> Olive oils were often replaced and/or diluted with cheaper vegetable
> oils. Clouding agents were found in 877 food products from 315
> different companies. Another popular target: Pomegranate juice, often
> made with grape skins and grape and pear juices.
>
> Tips to combat food fraud
> .If there's a "whole" alternative, use it. Buy lemons instead of
> lemon juice; pomegranates instead of pomegranate juice; loose leaf
> tea; saffron threads; etc. Also, purchase the whole spice
> (peppercorns, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks) and grind/grate it
> yourself.
> .Buy from reputable sources and brands you trust, including your
> local farmers market, co-op and natural food store. Know the who, when
> and where of the product.
> .Don't buy into the newest health trend. Food fraud appears more
> commonly in high-value ingredients that are linked to health benefits
> and consumers pay a premium for.
> .Beware "white tuna" - it's often not a member of the tuna family at
> all. Escolar is commonly marketed as white tuna, super white tuna,
> butterfish and walu. Escolar is edible - and legal - but the Food and
> Drug Administration does not encourage its consumption. It includes a
> waxy substance, called gempylotoxin, that humans can't digest and can
> cause purgative effects.
> .Educate yourself and train your palate. Does it taste, smell and
> look right? If you're wary, search online to see if that particular
> brand has been reported as fraudulent before.
> .Petition the FDA to set standards for the most commonly fraudulent
> products, like honey and olive oil.
>
> Janet US

I remember some hideous diet pancakes that were out in the 80's. They came
frozen and boasted of high fiber. And what did they put in them? Cellulose
fiber...aka...wood pulp.