Why are they lying about food ?

[SckizoBoy]

I don't know what "other countries" you mean, but you can rest assured that we have real honey in Europe as well.

This is largely a US-Problem, since the laws for tagging food don't seem to be as strict in your country as they are in parts of Europe. On this side of the pond there are very specific definitions for the names of products. For example, we have about six different terms for yogurt with fruit in it, depending on how much and what kind of processed fruits it contains.

Hell, a few years ago, there was a massive kerfuffle about whether Pringles should be classified as 'cakes' or 'crisps' due to their lower than normal potatoe content...(!) '

You really wonder what we pay these bureaucrats for...

snip

It's already been mentioned, but honey comes in many different forms/'flavours' etc. due to variations in species of Apis that the honey is collected from, how much of the water is evaporated off, what the dominant species of plant(s) that the bees acquire their nectar from, pollen content of the honey, soil quality that the plants grow from, rainfall of the year in question, etc. etc. all of which has separate effects on honey taste, sugar content, sweetness, thickness, colour and nutritional value.

Now, Greek honey is primarily honeydew honey, not conventional honey, the difference being that it is not derived from plant nectar but honeydew from aphid shit (not kidding), which explains the colour, viscosity and distinctive aftertaste.

...

The more you know... -_-

EDIT - for taxonomy...

 

[Ryan Hughes]

I live in China right now. I could write a whole BOOK about food lies: Fake protein powders, fake milk, fake eggs, fake grapes, fake rice, lead contaminated napkins and chopsticks and recycled cooking oil used in restaurants or sold as brand new in the supermarkets. I had all of that before and even more. Even some brands of bottled water are known to be bad for you because of the plastic used for the bottle and its chemicals breaking down into the water.

No kidding. When I visited the Shaolin Temple in Henan one of my friends got sick from the bottled water there, likely because someone re-filled an empty bottle with tap water and found a way to re-seal the cap with a lighter. Then, moving onto Beijing we got food poisoning at the supposedly 5-Star Capitol hotel. . . And do not even get me started on those poor Peking Ducks that are force fed and slaughtered. . .

 

[Abomination]

We are living in a world where the United States got the government to state that "Pizza" is a vegetable.

Something made entirely out of cheese, wheat and bacon can be called a "vegetable". I wouldn't trust the ingredients list when that's a standard of classification.

 

[Dirge Eterna]

I live in China right now. I could write a whole BOOK about food lies: Fake protein powders, fake milk, fake eggs, fake grapes, fake rice, lead contaminated napkins and chopsticks and recycled cooking oil used in restaurants or sold as brand new in the supermarkets. I had all of that before and even more. Even some brands of bottled water are known to be bad for you because of the plastic used for the bottle and its chemicals breaking down into the water.

I believe it but how do you fake a grape?

 

[Dirge Eterna]

We are living in a world where the United States got the government to state that "Pizza" is a vegetable.

Something made entirely out of cheese, wheat and bacon can be called a "vegetable". I wouldn't trust the ingredients list when that's a standard of classification.

It wasn't the people that got that to happen it was businesses and lobbyists that greased the palms of the USDA and Congress. Very little of what the Government does is directly due to the input of the citizens. We live in a Corporatocracy in reality as the big businesses really run things.

 

[Best of the 3]

Maybe it's the Greek honey that's a lie! o3o

That and it's probably using different ingredients / methods of being made that causes the taste difference. Though I'm sure they're all technically honey

 

[Hoplon]

I always wondered that but hadn't writ about it on a forum until now to see other people's opinions.
I have noticed something that really makes me wonder.
When I visit the super market and I buy local Greek products like e.g. honey,I know it will taste like honey. But because local honey is too expensive I often buy imported because its cheaper.
The thing is...
That when I buy foreign "honey" it isn't honey. It doesn't taste like honey at all.
Most products named "honey" that I buy and are products from other countries is just some mix of glucose syrup (also known as corn syrup in US) with some kind of added color.
It is less thick than real honey,way too sweeter,and it doesn't have that distinct flavor real honey has.I've tried plain glucose syrup in the past,and its taste and texture is unforgettable.
As I have also tried real honey too. I can dinstict these two.

Now I wander... Are all "honey" products that are being sold in other countries like that ? Syrups that look like honey but are actually made by humans instead of bees ?

p.s. of course its not only honey,there are also products named "yogurt" that instead of being made by yeast are made with gelatin,etc.

As part of the EU they shouldn't be allowed to sell you anything that isn't what it advertises as.

from directive 2001/110/EC on Honey

"COMPOSITION CRITERIA FOR HONEY

Honey consists essentially of different sugars, predominantly fructose and glucose as well as other substances such as organic acids, enzymes and solid particles derived from honey collection. The colour of honey varies from nearly colourless to dark brown. The consistency can be fluid, viscous or partly to entirely crystallised. The flavour and aroma vary, but are derived from the plant origin.

When placed on the market as honey or used in any product intended for human consumption, honey shall not have added to it any food ingredient, including food additives, nor shall any other additions be made other than honey. Honey must, as far as possible, be free from organic or inorganic matters foreign to its composition. With the exception of point 3 of Annex I, it must not have any foreign tastes or odours, have begun to ferment, have an artificially changed acidity or have been heated in such a way that the natural enzymes have been either destroyed or significantly inactivated."

 

[already in use]

there are also products named "yogurt" that instead of being made by yeast are made with gelatin,etc.

You have yoghurt that is made by yeast? Im sure it tastes ..uhh.. interesting.

Anyway,there are regulations in most countries regarding to how much companies and restaurants can lie about their
products/what words they are allowed to use. For example some companies produce cheeselike abominations that consist
of vegetable oil, cornstarch and food coloring, lable it ``Pizza Mix´´ or ``Gratin Mix´´ and put it next to the shredded cheese
in the supermarket. When you buy a pudding with X flavour, there is usually no x in it but some aromatic carbohydrates that supposedly taste like x. If you want to know what youre buing you have to look at the ingrediants.

 

[Galletea]

I didn't think people were allowed to sell you stuff that isn't what it says it is. Anyway, when it comes to honey, you'll probably just find that the mass produced stuff is just made in such a way that makes it more cost effective, and this is going to affect what flavour you get, as they will just use the best flowers for yield and not for flavour, and this is what gives it the syrupy taste.

 

[Angie7F]

WE have fake-ish cod roe.
But I realy cant think of much else.
japan is pretty picky about where food was grown etc.

 

[Yan007]

I live in China right now. I could write a whole BOOK about food lies: Fake protein powders, fake milk, fake eggs, fake grapes, fake rice, lead contaminated napkins and chopsticks and recycled cooking oil used in restaurants or sold as brand new in the supermarkets. I had all of that before and even more. Even some brands of bottled water are known to be bad for you because of the plastic used for the bottle and its chemicals breaking down into the water.

I believe it but how do you fake a grape?

The same way you fake eggs except you don't throw the "grape" into the hardening agent that would create the "eggshell".

1-Get the mold,some grapes extracts,coloring and chemicals.
2-Pour everything into the mold
3-Submerge filled mold into the reaction agent.
4-Profit.

 

[Yan007]

I'm sure Chinese readers will be able to tell everyone more about this, especially if they are honest, but here are a few things you should be aware of before coming to China for vacation or work. This will sound racist, I know, but it is how life is here. It is getting better, but we're not there yet.:

1- Sanitary: Chinese people are generally not clean. Or rather, not clean in the sense most other cultures would agree with. In China, if your hands are not visibly soiled, then they are clean. You go to the bathroom, wipe your ass: hands still white? Clean! The person cooking your food may wash his hands only once a day, after work. This is normal everywhere, including in hospitals regardless of who you are (patient, doctor and so on). They say you are what you eat, but here you are also what is on your chef's hands (and bottom). Also, there is no shame in defecating in public, even between rows of fresh food at a supermarket. Keep this in mind. It is very common for restaurants and even hospitals to NOT have any soap. This also explains why you will see people defecate in public or with the bathroom door open: They think that if they don't touch the door or don't go to the bathroom then it is cleaner for them and therefore they won't get sick or need to wash their hands. Yes.

2- Fake food: You may think some food may be "fake" in the West. I agree. I love real food. Especially now. Imagine going into a supermarket and NEVER knowing if what you buy is real. The ingredients list may be fake, the ingredients themselves may be hazardous to your health, the food may be spoiled and you can forget about nutritional information: If it is present on the package at all, then it is most probably fake too.

I even had "fake" oranges once. The oranges themselves were real. The problem was as follows: The oranges had been painted and coated with some kind of wax to look fresh and colorful. Inside, they were old and rotting. Sometimes you'll buy walnut only to realize later that the seller already took the meat inside and replaced it with stones and glued the nut back together to make more money.

3- My stomach is upset: Almost everyone who comes here will experience a phase after a couple months during which you feel like you are dying. It's like having the worst case of diarrhea mixed with a complete loss of energy and will to live. You realize that the food you eat is poisonous and you will have to adapt, leave or die. Most of my coworkers (Chinese people) will have upset stomachs at least once every 2 months and get real bad food poisoning at least twice a year. The same happens to me. Here, it is normal and people don't think an upset stomach or food poisoning is serious: it just happens. They will often just shrug it off and say "today's food was bad, maybe tomorrow's will be better." They are often in awe when I tell them I suffered from food poisoning only once in my life before coming to China and having an upset stomach is not that common too.

4- Water: When travelling, it is said you shouldn't drink the local water. In China, nobody drinks the local water - not even the locals. Our water often has "particles" so you have to boil it for 15 minutes or use a water fountain.

5- Cold kills EVERYTHING: Remember what I said about the water? Here, ice cream is pretty popular and here is how it's made: powdered milk, another powder and TAP WATER because: the machine will make the ice cream cold and cold kills bacteria! (It does not). Eating ice cream from street vendors and restaurants will give you a very bad case of diarrhea for this very reason. Also, this is why you will see Chinese people only use cold water to wash their hands: you think they are lazy - they seriously believe the cold water killed the germs and bacteria.

6- Quality control: Forget what you know about quality control and government regulations. Any rule can be broken and any regulator can be bought. My friend who owns his restaurant has a "perfect" score for his restaurant - he just paid for it.

If you got any question about food here or otherwise, reply here or send me a pm. I'll be glad to tell more.

 

[Jenny Jones]

I hate food lies too.

Like when they say something is wasabi, its really just horseradish and food coloring.

"Sweetened with honey" it says on the box, and on ingredients is lists corn syrup or sucralose, with honey down at the bottom as an afterthought.

If it says it has pomegranate, acai, or some other "healthy" fruit juice on the label you can bet that its mostly apple/grape juice or blueberries. With just enough of the fruit on the label to cover their asses legally.

Vitamin Water promotes the lie that its is in any way a healthy drink. Its not. Its sugar water with a decent ad team.

Redbull also pretends its good for you. Its not. Its made from crap that many other countries have banned as poison for years.

"Diet" sodas etc. say things like "sugar free" as if they are true. Your body treats artifical sweeteners the same as cane sugar, i.e. it produces insulin and metabolizes it the same way. Studies also allude to people that injest lots of said mystery sweeteners tend to have a harder time losing weight. Mostly due to the mistake that they can drink it like water and it is free from calories and sugar to its ok. That is the biggest load of bullshit food companies want you to believe right there.

It may be true that high fructose corn syrup isn't inherently bad for you, but given that its in about 80% of ALL products and usually in a grossly inflated amount, its certainly isn't making this country any healthier either.

But the lie that tops my own personal list of food shenanigans is when it comes to sushi. 90% of the sushi you see in supermarkets is exclusively rolls, with a tiny bit of imitation crab, or more commonly "krab" stuck in there to meet the seafood requirement amidst the gag-inducing rice and avocado nugget that they think sushi is. Which means its Alaskan Pollock. Now I don't like real crab at all, but who is the smartass that decided its perfectly okay to call something crab, and its really a bland fish? Its not even evolutionarily near the advertised protein.

I may as well sell imitation ground beef that is really ground up cockroach because it has just as much truth to it as these assholes are getting away with.

I used to be able to get unagi nigiri, and inari, at my local Fred Meyer. These days its only krab rolls.

There's a free podcast I watched a few years ago by a university professor called "Sugar the bitter truth". In that it explains how high fructose corn syrup is essentially like taking in alcohol. It's all about how it's metabolised in the liver. It can get a little complex in the chemistry if you haven't done high school chemistry but he does try to keep it as simple as possible. If you search the title you should be able to bring it up on itunes or even just on google.

OT there has been a HUGE horse meat scandel across Europe where foods were tested that said it was beef and instead contained varying degrees of horse. I think a slightly less concerning one came to light slightly after but it was completely eclipsed by the horse meat scandal.

 

[DoPo]

there are also products named "yogurt" that instead of being made by yeast are made with gelatin,etc.

You have yoghurt that is made by yeast? Im sure it tastes ..uhh.. interesting.

Well, not really yeast, per se, but bacteria that essentially ferments the milk. That's the real way to make yoghurt, using gelatin is...well, it's cheating, as it's a different product, that resembles yoghurt.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

The problem of what is our food isn't helped by the fact that misinformation is constantly spread around and to even understand some things requires a bit of scientific knowledge among other things. Just look at things like genetic engineering. They make corn that produces an enzyme that comes from bacteria that repels caterpillars. Regardless of whether or not it causes harm (spoiler: it doesn't) you'd think "organic" or "natural" corn doesn't have this right? Except it does. They just spray the bacteria on the corn instead and now the process is way more expensive because it has to be constantly reapplied

Recently someone else did a study that showed genetically engineered crop caused 90% of their mice to die of gross tumors over a 3 year period. But the type of mice they used get cancer extremely easily and 90% of them would have gotten gross tumors before the ends of their lives anyway. The mice are supposed be for short term (3 month) experiments. If these cancer prone mice get cancer even faster than normal then it shows product "X" could be carcinogenic. But all they showed the public was a bunch of guys in lab coats holding deformed mice saying "corn did this!"

We are living in a world where the United States got the government to state that "Pizza" is a vegetable.

Something made entirely out of cheese, wheat and bacon can be called a "vegetable". I wouldn't trust the ingredients list when that's a standard of classification.

And they have the gall to say its because of the tomatoes in it even though tomatoes contain the uterus and reproductive parts of yhe plant. As such, ITS A FUCKING FRUIT!

 

[Berithil]

It's just a matter of it being much cheaper to dilute and cheapen the food that they sell us. Throw the dirt cheap high fructose corn syrup as a filler into 90% of what they sell, and TA-DA! Instant virtual profit!

I got lucky, growing up with a dad who knows how to cook well, and living in farm country with a lot of local produce, my taste buds have been spoiled. I can't bear to eat at McDonalds and most other fast food restaurants, with the knowledge of the crap that they put in their food.

I used to be able to get unagi nigiri, and inari, at my local Fred Meyer. These days its only krab rolls.

Ewww who shops at Fred Myers if they can help it? BTW, Hi fellow Pacific Northwester, what part of Oregon are you from.

Hello, fellow other Pacific Northwesterner! Central Willamette Valley here.

 

[Blaster395]

There is a lot of misinformation regarding artificial diet sweeteners and HFCS. I am going to explain some of these in more depth, because much of this misinformation stems from an anti-corporate kneejerk instead of actual science.

Already in this thread there has been misinformation regarding Artificial Sweeteners. "Your body treats artificial sweeteners the same as cane sugar, i.e. it produces insulin and metabolizes it the same way." This is chemically impossible because the entire point of the artificial sweeteners we have developed is that they are chemically different from sugar. The very commonly used Aspartame, for example, does not metabolize into Glucose and Fructose (As cane sugar sucrose would do), but instead metabolizes into extremely small quantities of an amino acid and Methanol. Yes, methanol is bad, but quite frankly because of how extremely sweet aspartame is, it's never used in high concentrations, and you will be getting more methanol from eating a single grape than downing a 2 liter bottle of diet soda. An additional point to make is that even were your body able to magically metabolize it as sugar, its reduced concentration would still make it less calorie-dense.

"Studies also allude to people that ingest lots of said mystery sweeteners tend to have a harder time losing weight". Please don't editorialize the facts, not only are 'mystery sweeteners' only a mystery because you can't be bothered to read the label, but you are also trying to create the impression that there are scary evil businesses putting random shit into food. There are some businesses that do that, but they are not doing it with artificial sweeteners.
Also, the conclusion from that study was later demonstrated to be flawed.

Diet soda's are, for all dietary purposes, identical to water. The only group that would experience ill effects from drinking them would be people with an extremely rare condition that causes one of the amino acid breakdown products of aspartame to be poisonous, a condition screened at birth in 1st world countries and which prevents you from eating tons of stuff, not just aspartame. Non-dietary reasons to not consume it would be the acidity and it's effect on your teeth.


Next; High Fructose Corn Syrup. This is a 55-45 mix of Fructose and Glucose. Cane sugar is 100% sucrose, which is immediately broke into 50-50 Fructose and Glucose starting from when it touches your spit. There is no chemical difference. Both are equally 'bad' (of course, there are many situations where sugars are good, after all, without them you would starve).

There is a real reason to oppose HFCS, which is that it only exists because of agricultural subsidies. You do not need to make up additional false reasons.

 

[Daveman]

It's probably still honey but it is often heavily filtered and changed so that it is smoother/more syrupy and clearer. So it is still technically honey in the same way that orange juice is still orange juice even if it has been made up from a concentrate, though they do tend to label it as "from concentrate". This is why freshly squeezed orange juice tastes completely different. So that's why they still call it honey.

As for why they make it smoother and clearer, that's basically just what people think honey is like. They think clearer etc equals more pure. It also offers a more consistent product and people generally want food from brands to taste exactly the same every time you buy it.

As for the UK, we have a load of things like bananas being rejected from stores for being too bendy or too straight. Everyone initially blamed it on stupid EU laws and the government but it turned out it was just the supermarkets deciding to do it. Whenever I check the reduced section of the supermarket there's usually cheap steak there that people have rejected clearly on the grounds that the two steaks in the same package are different shades of pinkish red.

Redbull also pretends its good for you. Its not. Its made from crap that many other countries have banned as poison for years.

I'm not sure "Redbull gives you wings" can count as them saying it's good for you.

 

[Blaster395]

Monosodium Glutamate fears are basically the Fan Death of the western world. Don't even bother bringing this up as a health hazard, otherwise I will have to explain even more chemistry to demonstrate that it isn't, and its far too hot here for me to want to do that.