Food fraud: Is it for real?

Updated: 2020-07-18

Answer Section

Despite all kinds of regulations and inspections, food fraud exists. Food fraud is the intentional addition of improper or inferior ingredients to a food, often for economic gain. And it's illegal.

Food fraud has been around throughout history. Highly sought after spices were filled with ground-up seeds; milk has been diluted with water and chalk. The medical journal The Lancet reported in 1851 that swindlers were selling tea that was made from elm, oak and beech leaves, and contaminated with lead.

More recent examples have been documented in the best-selling book, "Real Food/Fake Food." Here are just a few:

• Fish and seafood. Less expensive species are sometimes sold as a premium species.
• Parmesan cheese. Despite being marketed as 100 percent, some brands may contain 40 percent cheese or less, with the remainder being cellulose.
• Extra-virgin olive oil. Some are not extra-virgin or even virgin, or even from olives.
• Coffee. Some ground coffee may contain grains, such as corn and wheat, or even twigs.

A study conducted by the Food Protection and Defense Institute, of the University of Minnesota, looked at food adulteration reports in journals and other media between 1980 and 2011. The food categories cited most often included fish and seafood, dairy products, fruit juices, oils and fats, grain products — and even infant formulas.

Many of these are foods that people eat for health reasons. People want know that they're eating the real deal — not some watered-down version and certainly not adulterated versions that can do them harm.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration list contaminated and recalled food items on their websites. However, they are unable to catch all cases of food fraud because of limited resources.

While you can be completely safe from food fraud, you can take measures to lower your risk:

• Keep in mind the types of foods that are most prone to fraud (mentioned above).
• Buy from local producers.
• Be wary of bargain prices for expensive foods.
• Eat whole foods instead of highly processed foods.