FAKE FOODS-AN UNAVOIDABLE "FAIT ACCOMPLI"?

Is the world becoming fatalistic when it comes to food safety and frauds? It looks like people are getting reconciled to a food market where adulterated and fraudulent products, some with high risk to life, finding place on the shelves or being traded through Internet sales. Recent adulteration incidence involving beef which was mixed with horse meat in communited preparations has revived this issue disturbing the minds of millions of honest consumers. This episode which was reported from some European countries has caused despair among safety agencies as they are unable to keep step with the destructive but innovative fraudsters defying all the odds in enticing the unsuspecting consumers through price manipulation. If some of the experts in this area are to be believed, such frauds will be difficult to be controlled by the vigilance agencies and will continue to haunt mankind in increasing numbers in the coming years. Here is a take on this unfortunate trend which is spreading like wild fire across the world. 

"Recently, European gourmands shuddered when many of their "beef" products were discovered to contain as much as 100 percent horse meat. Followed by that: Arrests of Chinese traders selling rat meat labeled as lamb (baaaa). Can it be managed? "Unfortunately, controlling the amount of fraud that occurs daily in the food industry is next to impossible," said Michael Roberts, a professor of food law and policy at UCLA and director of the Center for Food Law and Policy. And he believes that no food is immune to this situation. "Almost anything can be adulterated in some way," he added, "either to persuade consumers to buy something for their health, or by diluting it to save money on the supplier end."

No doubt the food fraud industry is much more profitable than the main stream industry, the profit margin being 50% to 100%, compared to just 5-15% on clean food products. The only way to stop such rampant frauds will be to educate the consumers regarding the futility in going for cheap products from manufacturers of doubtful reputation. To some extent fast paced prosecution of fraudsters and severe punishment can deter many potential food criminals from entering this lucrative business. Organic food manufacturers are generally under tight vigilance forced to adopt strict safety standards and reputed and established brands cannot be expected to stoop to the level of adulterating their products that can destroy their brand reputation in the long run. Ultimately the safest way would be to buy raw fresh foods from the local markets or rural markets or reputed fresh produce dealers and spend a little more time in the kitchen to cook and eat them. This way the content of processed foods in the daily diet can be significantly reduced with its attendant benefits. Spare a thought for this alternative for the sake of safety of the families as a whole. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

AFTER HORSE MEAT NOW COMES FISH WITH FALSE LABELS!

Who has not heard of the recent adulteration episode in Europe where horse meat was used to extend the beef content in hundreds of products labeled as beef? Though the ramification of such wide spread food fraud is limited to economic cheating, it does not make such products dangerous or unhealthy to the consumers. Paradoxically horse meat is no way inferior to beef though many sources do contain residues of some performance enhancing drugs which may pose some hazard. Close on the heels of this episode comes the news that American consumers are facing a similar situation vis-a-vis fish products. It was shocking that almost one third of market samples of fish products claimed to be based on Red Snapper, a much valued fish species, were made with other varieties with little or no resemblance to the former! Here is a take on this mislabeling practices widely prevalent in United State of America.    

"That tempting seafood delight glistening on the ice at the market, or sizzling at the restaurant table in its aromatic jacket of garlic and ginger? It may not be at all what you think, or indeed even close, according to a big new study of fish bought and genetically tested in 12 parts of the country — in restaurants, markets and sushi bars — by a nonprofit ocean protection group, Oceana. In the 120 samples labeled red snapper and bought for testing nationwide, for example, 28 different species of fish were found, including 17 that were not even in the snapper family, according to the study, which was released Thursday. The study also contained surprises about where consumers were most likely to be misled — sushi bars topped the list in every city studied — while grocery stores were most likely to be selling fish honestly. Restaurants ranked in the middle. Part of the problem, said the study's chief author, Kimberly Warner, is that there are quite simply a lot of fish in the sea, and many of them look alike. Over all, the study found that about one-third of the 1,215 fish samples bought, from 2010 to 2012, were mislabeled."Even a relatively educated consumer couldn't look at a whole fish and say, 'I'm sure that's a red snapper and not lane snapper,' " she said.

Here again nutritionally it could make very little difference whether the product is based on Red Snapper or any other fish as long they are edible. But such practices are considered unethical and amounts to cheating those who ardently love Red Snapper as a fish of their preference. While during olden days there was hardly any tool available to detect such adulteration, advent of gene testing readily offers a convenient route to differentiate between various living species. Adulteration is one of the oldest professions and no matter how diligent the consumer is, it will continue as long as there is attractive "bonus" for the fraudsters. No wonder costly products like Olive oil, Caviar, Honey, Saffron, Coffee, Tea etc attract adulterators like flies to a piece of jaggery, the basis being higher the cost more will be the profit!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com