Unfortunately, food fraud is a widespread practice around the world today. The substitution of ingredients for cheaper ones is a practice that affects all types of food: from exclusive products that have gained popularity in recent years, to those that make up our daily food consumption.
Even though precautionary measures increase every year to prevent such practices, consumers still need to be prepared to avoid deception. That is why we have made a list of the foods most susceptible to fraud:
- Ecological foods: Despite consumption and interest in organic food in recent years, a study in the United States found that 40% of foods marketed as ‘organic’ contain pesticides and other traces of products used in The industrial crop.
- Rice: There are different varieties of rice classified according to grain shape, texture, color and, of course, quality. Precisely, one of the most common deceptions is the sale of rice of inferior quality as if they were others of superiors that share certain attributes; Such as fraudulent risotto rice marketed in the United Kingdom. In some cases, the grains are infused with the resins, reducing their quality from imperceptible to being cooked.
- Fish: Fish is a food highly susceptible to fraud. Among the most common forms, we find the alteration of the date of fishing in order to sell it as a fresh product, as well as incorrect labelling in which species of lower commercial value are substituted by similar ones with higher commercial value.
- Fruit Juices: It is no secret that fruit juices usually are diluted with water, as well as containing sweeteners and colorings. In spite of this, many of them bear the label of 100% natural or ‘concentrate’.
- Milk and dairy: In the face of increased fraud, many countries are promoting the incorporation of a label of origin to all their dairy products. The most common alteration is the mixtures with water or other milk of lower quality; However, in recent years frauds have been discovered with products that could endanger the health of its consumers.
- Wine: Unfortunately the fraud of wine production is more common than we think. In fact, it is estimated that 70% of the wine sold in China could be fake. Usually, these are mixtures of grapes of lower quality that are sold as premium product, or broth mixed with chemicals.
Château d’Yquem 1991
Château Lynch-Bages 2010