New Study Shows: Food Fraud Soared 60% Last Year

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/23/2013 10:48 -0400

Via Mike Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

So what is food fraud anyway? Well, it’s sort of what you would expect. It’s when companies label food one way, but the truth turns out to be completely different. I have been predicting an escalation in this trend for years, since it was obvious that as inflation led to increases in food prices, companies would resort to this type of behavior to keep margins inflated.

So in their latest study, the non-profit food fraud detectives at the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) show us the extent of this extremely dangerous trend. From ABC News:

It’s what we expect as shoppers—what’s in the food will be displayed on the label.

But a new scientific examination by the non-profit food fraud detectives the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), discovered rising numbers of fake ingredients in products from olive oil to spices to fruit juice.

In a new database to be released Wednesday, and obtained exclusively by ABC News today, USP warns consumers, the FDA and manufacturers that the amount of food fraud they found is up by 60 percent this year.

So what are the most commonly faked products?

Among the most popular targets for unscrupulous food suppliers? Pomegranate juice, which is often diluted with grape or pear juice.

How about that lemon juice?

“One had 10 percent lemon juice, it said it had 100 percent, another had 15 percent lemon juice, another…had 25 percent, and the last one had 35 percent lemon juice,” Sally Greenberg, Executive Director for the National Consumers League said. “And they were all labeled 100 percent lemon juice.”

I mean how do you confuse 10% lemon juice with 100%? I suppose in the age of Jon Corzine and all the crooks in banking getting off without a scratch from the biggest heist in American history, this sort of stuff should be expected. This is just another example of stealth inflation manifesting in our daily lives, but food fraud presents a much larger health hazard than merely shrinking portion sizes.

For other articles on my stealth inflation series see:

Full article here.

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Wed, 01/23/2013 - 10:51 | 3178747 Spastica Rex

Ersatzbrot!

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 10:57 | 3178758 Pladizow

So what, men have been lying about "foot longs" for centuries!

And in 3...2....1... The SEC will ban the USP from rating food for 18 months.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:00 | 3178778 hedgeless_horseman

No fraud here. Hash came 100% from leftover beef stew, which along with the poached egg and tomato sauce came 100% from our little farm.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:00 | 3178786 Pladizow

It wont be long before GMO lemons only provide 10% real lemmon juice!

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:14 | 3178847 Spastica Rex

And let's just be honest: the other 90% is just leveling the playing field. Ask Lance.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:35 | 3178908 hedgeless_horseman

This just in. Mrs. Horseman, regretfully, informs me that the tomato sauce on the hash is not from our garden. I hereby elect the Bonds-Clemens defense. I hope this simple oversight does not keep me out of the ZH Culinary Hall of Fame. I am truly sorry. Please, forgive me.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:36 | 3178927 Muddy1

Time to go long SPAM!!!!!! :-)

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:52 | 3179007 Enslavethechild...

Brought to you by the same companies (bankers) that are dumping millions of tons of radioactive waste in the worlds fish breeding grounds. No surprises here...

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:55 | 3179043 Boris Alatovkrap

Boris now is extreme of concern. Maybe when is dilute Vodka with Ethylene Glycol, is not real Ethylene Glycol!? What is to do!? Now going blind is not to understand cause!

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 12:19 | 3179196 southerncomfort

you're not going blind cause of the vodka dude... watch your hands...

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 14:06 | 3179701 TruthInSunshine

Boris, switch to propylene glycol when possible, since its use is allowed in edible, food-like products, as ruled by the illustrious U.S. EdibleFoodLikeSubstances & DrugPusher Administration:

Propylene glycol

Antifreeze is used in cars, pills, cosmetics, deodorant, moisturizer…and food. It keeps your car from freezing over, your moisturizer moist, and your fat free cookie dough ice cream creamy, smooth and juicy. If it’s good enough for your SUV it’s good enough to eat.

Found in: Cake mix, salad dressings, low fat ice creams and dog food.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 14:19 | 3179782 Hook Line and S...

Not to mention that the propylene glycol of Corexit is messing up the diet of those oil eating bacteria in the gulf.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 15:29 | 3180056 BeerBrewer09

I work at a fine dining restaurant part time. Asparagus costs us ~$.50 per stalk these days. It's cheaper to put jumbo lump crab on a veal oscar plate instead of the asparagus.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 17:23 | 3180599 Seer

Maybe we can work up a deal. I've got some asparagus that's set to produce this next season... it's meant for personal consumption, but maybe...

What your anecdotal suggests is that vegetables have been severely under-priced. The vegetable markets are really, really tough (I don't want any part of them, they scare me). Crab just doesn't wilt like celery.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 20:19 | 3181253 Boris Alatovkrap

At local market in Chernobyl, cannot find is this Asparagus, but mushroom, really really large mushroom, is plenty for cheap rubles. Once see something like crab, but is not crab.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 17:30 | 3180615 Parrotile

Move to Australia, Mate.

Our local farmer's market do bundles (15 spears (not stalks!!)) for $1.00. Nice'n'juicy too.

Even the Major Retailers (Coles / Woolworths) are ony charging $2 - $2.50 per large bundle, and you can get just as good (for less) in ALDI - $1.50.

Perhaps we should apply for an export licence and DIY???

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 12:43 | 3179347 Carl Spackler

Lot of hidden inflation in the Spam market. It's like tungsten in your gold.

They are now swapping out the pork substitute with a substitute for the substitute.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 18:10 | 3180773 Seer

Whoa! Fucking spam Spam!

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:40 | 3178943 fuu

If the rest of us had pic privs you wouldn't be the only member of that hall of fame.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 12:20 | 3179200 Hulk

You'll never make banker at this rate...

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:23 | 3178885 Ralph Spoilsport

The information we're not getting here is what are the brand names of these products? I learned the hard way to avoid brands like Shur-Fine because of the poor quality of everything they put on the market.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 13:40 | 3179613 daveeemc2

Ah - the sludge thickens....betcha didnt know its a big part of your grocery store purchases.

...and you thought pink slime was bad....

Bon appetit!

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:29 | 3178905 prains

GMO is only the start

a good read (a bit alarmist) is "Wheat Belly" if you want to understand how the GMO wheat strains have totally fucked with our metabolism, ergo huge increases in food sensitivities, diabetes, obesity etc

worth every minute to read

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 12:07 | 3179128 helping_friendl...

I read it.

Can't eat anything anymore.

I bought a bag of 9-grain wild rice at the asian market. $25 a bag.It's all we ate for six months. My turds could break windows.

flat iron steak (broil and set aside). 2 cups of 9g wild rice, peppers, onion, garlic and two tomatos.

Cut the steak in quarters.

cook veggies so a little crunch remains and mix with rice. divide into quarters.

it takes an hour but we make four meals of it and makes the most beatiful turds I've ever seen. True no wipers.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 12:19 | 3179195 WonderDawg

That's some funny shit.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 13:43 | 3179628 daveeemc2

No, THIS is funny shit.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 18:16 | 3180800 Seer

Of the "funny business" variety.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 12:23 | 3179221 Hulk

Eat Healthy, save a tree !!!

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 14:01 | 3179694 Georgiabelle

I'd be careful about using rice as a dietary staple, primarily because of the high concentrations of inorganic arsenic found in many/most brands of rice. And brown rice apparently has higher concentrations of arsenic than white rice. I would be especially careful of rice imported from Asia. The air in China is full of toxic particulates that end up in the soil and ground water, not to mention the serious lack of food safety standards there.

ttp://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/11/arsenic-in-your-food/index....

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 13:56 | 3179675 NotApplicable

I've got it (the book, not the belly (at least not any longer)).

Thanks to that book, and Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint, I went from hating to take the effort to make my brown-bag lunch to hating having to eat the crap they sell downtown, unless I go spend $15 for a happy-cow burger.

www.marksdailyapple.com

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:45 | 3178972 Zer0head

Hedgeless

food photography is both an art and a science that takes years to master

(but the thought is appreciated)

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:56 | 3179011 hedgeless_horseman

Years? I only get a few seconds with my phone camera before the family starts giving thanks.

I don't want to create art, I just want others to see, and hopefully believe, that growing, raising, and preparing one's food is 1) simple, 2) enjoyable, and 3) worthwhile.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 12:25 | 3179232 DaveyJones

what he said

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 12:27 | 3179256 Hulk

All you do is make me hungry. You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry !!!

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 12:40 | 3179329 A Lunatic

You're in charge of the smashed potatoes......

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 14:02 | 3179695 NotApplicable

We spend much more time (and money) preparing quality foods these days, but it is obvious that it is so worth it. Every Christmas gift I bought for my family last year was to better equip us with quality kitchen tools, like the enamel coated cast-iron dutch oven I used to cook down our home-grown pumpkin on monday.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 18:21 | 3180824 Seer

I can't quite agree that it's "simple," or, that it's "enjoyable*," not when pests and weather are wrecking havoc. But, point #3 is THE key- not only is growing worthwhile, but most likely it will become NECESSARY.

* Yes, there are moments of enjoyment when you see stuff surviving and finally producing (for harvest).

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:46 | 3178977 onthesquare

2 X 4 s are not really 2" X 4". They are not even rough cut 2" X4". A USGallon is not a real gallon. It is a Queen Ann gallon. Smaller than an Imperial Gallon. American beer has always been watered down.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 12:00 | 3179050 ziggy59

And a troy oz is heavier than regular oz....by 10% . Which sux for ganja oz. but great for pms.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 13:48 | 3179644 daveeemc2

yeah, and fertilizer used to grow your food isnt really fertilizer.

And compost used in your garden u get for free from the city isnt really compost.

Tue, 02/05/2013 - 02:35 | 3215672 jaffa

Sourness is caused by the taste of acids, such as vinegar in alcoholic beverages. Sour foods include citrus, specifically lemons, limes, and to a lesser degree oranges. Sour is evolutionarily significant as it is a sign for a food that may have gone rancid due to bacteria. Thanks.
Regards,
creative bioscience green coffee bean extract

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:02 | 3178762 Zer0head

100% Organic Whole Foods Market

_{sourced from China}

http://www.sott.net/article/245508-Whole-Foods-organic-comes-from-China

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:05 | 3178801 DaveyJones

and not "whole foods" They in more ways than one support GMO

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:17 | 3178851 SubjectivObject

WHO Folds Markitup.

Ha! Canvassers outside WFM here in CA are baffled to learn that WHF is a Texas based company, and that the state with the most wind generators is Texas, and that CA is bankrupt.

For those lucky Texans, in major population centers, the current Real Deal is Central Market.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:28 | 3178901 krispkritter