5 Mislabeled and Counterfeit Foods That Prove Expensive Meals Can Be Costly Lies

This article was originally posted on Inverse. By Kashann Kilson Traditionally, counterfeit foods have been reserved for ultra-high priced items well outside the budget of the average consumer. For years, law enforcement agencies have dunked serious resources to combat the flood of high-dollar knockoffs of luxury products like caviar, truffles, and premium wines, and spirits. As the cost of gourmet food products continue to increase, so does the scope of the counterfeit market: the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's University in Belfast estimates that in the next year, counterfeit food could account for over $600 billion dollars in the global food trade. However, outside of serious foodies and collectors, more and more consumers are happy spending their hard earned cheddar on imitation food items. Sure it's immoral as shit, but ultimately, as the quality of fake-fancy food and drink items increases, the average consumer cares less and less: they dig being able to get a deal and high-end eats, and quite frankly, can't tell the difference between the real and the forgery to begin with. Here is a list of 5 high-end food items wherein counterfeit food may cause us to rethink the value genuine articles: Olive Oil As it turns out, olive oil is the single most fraud prone food item on the market today. For the most part, the fraud is more a matter of the quality of the olive oil, which is often falsely billed as being "Italian" or "extra virgin." However, more an...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news