10 FAKE FOODS YOU'RE EATING THAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT IN 2022

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This channel is no stranger to pointing out fake and harmful foods in the world, as we do what we can to inform you to make sure you are aware of what you are putting into your body. If you haven’t watched our 10 fake Chinese foods that can kill you part 1 & part 2 make sure to check it out as it provides tons of value and the links will be in the description box below. In this video, we will talk about 10 FAKE FOODS YOUR’RE EATING THAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW. Now let's get straight to it. 

Extra Virgin or Extra dangerous Olive Oil – Olive oil can provide healthy benefits if it is truly 100% authentic olive oil. Sadly, this is not the case most of the time. Diluted and olive oil fraud goes back thousands of years to the days of the Roman empire where it blended with cheaper oils such as canola or sunflower oil.

The lid to this really got blown off when investigative journalist Tom Mueller made a staggering claim to 60 minutes when he estimated up to 75 to 80 percent of extra virgin olive oils that were sold in the United states were fraudulent. The basis of his claims come the fact that true virgin olive oil in it’s purest form comes from the pressing of olive harvest and does not include any additives. However, by the time it reaches the United States from overseas it no longer makes the legal grade for extra virgin olive oil due to tampering and inadequate storage.

The bigger frauds happen when the mislabeling of the olive oil occurs. For instance, when the fraudulent olive oil is mixed with canola or peanut oil which is a common allergen. If the label claims it is a 100 percent extra virgin olive oil then a person with peanut allergies will unexpectedly get a potentially deadly allergic reaction to it. 

Number 2 - 100 Percent Real Grated Parmesan Cheese –The very cheese you like to sprinkle on top of your pasta dish can possibly not be entirely parmesan cheese but instead it can actually be made from wood. Arguably one of Italy’s most favorite cheeses have not been immune from being counterfeited. According to an article by Bloomberg in 2012, federal agents from the food and drug administration aka FDA – conducted an unexpected visit to a cheese factory in a rural part of Pennsylvania.

What they found was that the 100% parmesan cheese that was being claimed by the cheese manufacturer was in fact discovered to have been mislabeled. The FDA found evidence that ingredients such as cellulose (which is an anti-clumping substance made from wood pulp) was being used excessively along with passing off cheaper, lesser grade cheddar cheese, as parmesan cheese. Now although cellulose has been approved to be used on cheese to prevent the grated cheese from clumping together but studies have found that more cellulose is being added than what is actually needed.

Now check this out, this cheese was being distributed and making its way on the shelves of some of the country’s biggest grocery chains.

This isn’t the first time that 100% parmesan cheese was discovered to be mislabeled.  Ultimately, is definitely a deceptive practice claiming to be 100% parmesan cheese when it is not. Let’s hope the FDA keeps on cracking down on these deceptive practices.

Number 3 – Honey. According to an article by the insider, honey is the third most faked food in the world. Only olive oil which we covered earlier in the video and milk are ahead. We also covered milk on our Chinese food that can kill you part 1 extensively so check it out.

In operation “honey gate” in 2013, in a federal investigation conducted by the justice department had charged two major honey importers for fake honey. The importers were shipping fake honey that was made in China, into the shelves of supermarkets in the United States. Almost a decade later, and a lot of the honey that makes it way to American shores and other parts of the world are still fake.

Now these fake honey manufacturers dilute real honey with sugar and other planted based syrups such as beet syrup or high fructose corn syrup. These substitute syrups most likely have a lot higher sugar content compared to the natural sugar found in real honey, and also stripped of the natural nutrients that real honey provides.

Testing has been done to verify the au-then-ticity of these honeys, but the counterfeiters have grown increasely clever, coming up with ways to chemically alter the fake honey so it can pass as real honey

Now check this out. Genuine honey manufacturers are feeling the sting of this due to the fact that the fake honey can sell so much cheaper than the real honey making it extremely hard make profits.

So you might be asking how can we can tell the difference between the real or fake honey? According to beeamerica.com, real honey when mixed with water needs to be stirred. Fake honey tends to dissolve easily in water without mixing.

Number 4 - Imitation Crab meat – That delicious California sushi roll is sure satisfying when you’re eating it but for those who not aware, the crab that is in the sushi roll is almost entirely likely not real crab meat. That’s right, it is actually imitation crab meat or crab sticks as its better known as and most crab sticks do not have a single percent of crab meat in it!

In reality, most crab sticks ingredients is mixture of starch, grounded white fish, and other fillers such as egg white, wheat, and possibly trans-glu-taminase enzyme (a meat glue) to bind together.  It is then cured and shaped to resemble crab leg meats.

Artificial crab flavoring and red dye is then added giving it the believable crab taste and appearance. It is well known that too much artificial coloring in food will not be good for your body if consumed in large amounts.

Next time you see crab as the ingredients in some foods, just remember is not the crabs that made the ultimate sacrifice but it is was the white fishes.

Number 5 - Coffee - This can be unsettling for avid coffee drinkers like myself. According to Larry Olmstead, a columnist and author – he states that ground coffee is often mixed with cheaper substances such as ground barley, twigs, corn and even sawdust. These fillers obviously involve using less real ground coffee and to boost profits.

He covers this more extensively in his NY time’s best-selling book: Real Food/Fake Food: Why You Don’t Know What You’re Eating and What You Can Do About It – the link is the description box below

Now more recently an in article by adn.com, several major coffee distributors has been exposed to have been selling counterfeit Kona coffee. Real kona coffee comes from from the Hawaiian island of Kona and known for its richly flavored coffee. Coffee growers accused these retailers of mislabeling their products and selling it to consumers claiming the coffee contained a sizeable amount of Kona coffee.

Lary Omstead advises the best way to steer clear of counterfeit coffee is to buy whole coffee beans and grind them yourself.

Number 6 – Bacon bits – While they make a great addition to your mashed potatoes - you have to wonder, how much meat is actually in those highly processed yummy bacon bits?

Some popular well-known brands have listed in their ingredients the bacon is cured with salt, water, sodium nitrate and sodium ery-thor-bate. The latter two ingredients are additives that are normally used on cure meats to preserve and enrich the flavor. According to an article by my recipes.com, both these ingredients have been found to cause fatigue and headaches for those who consume it often and may have sensitivity to preservatives. Here is the catch; these ingredients have been approved by the FDA.

For another popular brand where the bacon bits does not contain any actual meat – it is actually vegan. Soy flour is seasoned with salt then mixed with canola oil then dyed with caramel color red 40 dye. Caramel color has been found to possibly have dangerous levels of mercury, arsentic, and led.

The next time you decide to grab bacon bits at your local market, remember this might not be the best choice of foods to put into your body.

Number 7 – Maple syrup – Is that maple syrup or pancake syrup? What is the difference? Well first off, the maple syrup industry had asked for the FDA to take action against companies that put “Maple” on their label, when in fact their syrup does not contain any maple according to an article by WAMC.org.

That is definitely what I call mislabeling of products. Many of these so called imitation maple syrups contained high levels of refined added sugar which does not contain nutritional value that the real maple has. The real maple syrup is extracted from tree sap and contains beneficial vitamins and minerals.

The well-known maple syrup imitation companies decided to relabel and rebrand as pancake syrup hoping no one would know the difference. Luckily for you after watching this video you would know to check what you are buying by checking the ingredients to see if maple is on the list

Number 8 – Fruit Juice –.  It’s hard not to like fruit juices especially when they are supposed to be healthier than your average soda. Or is it? well-known juice companies have been faced allegations that they are marketing and labeling their beverages as “whole fruits” even though they often consist of cheap white grape and pear juice blends with higher sugar content.

Now with the next one, this is about to get really interesting.  Apple juice is another favorite American juice. Well did you know that according to the US department of Agriculture 60% of our apple juice is actually imported from China?  Arsenic is a chemical that has been discovered in the apple juice concentrate from China which might possibly come from pesticides that have been banned.

We can cover this more detail in another video so make sure to leave a comment if you would like to see more on this topic.

Number  9 - Red Snapper– Unfortunately, fish are some of the easiest foods to be faked or mislabeled and the red snapper is a popular fish for consumption and due to its high demand it can get pricey to buy. As with most things, the higher demand - comes the opportunity for fraud.

According to an article by the NY times, a nonprofit organization called Oceana conducted a study on 120 samples of fish that were labeled as red snapper and found instead, that 28 other species of fishes were found and 17 were not even in the red snapper family!  

One of the most common ways this mislabeled fish is served to unknowing customers is as sushi. Sushi bars were listed among the top of the list, while restaurants were in the middle. Groceries stores were more likely to sell the real red snapper according to the article. The study also brought to the attention of health concerns the mislabeling of fish might have. It was discovered that tilefish, which is well known due to its mercury content – should be avoided by pregnant women as mentioned on federal advisory lists -were actually being sold as a red snapper.

Something smells fishy here and its probably best to make sure you are buying your red snapper from a trustworthy source.

Number 10 Kobe beef – They say that Kobe beef is the tastiest beef in the world that money can buy. For those of you that have had Kobe beef, leave your response in the comment box below.

Now that hefty price tag you’re paying for what you think is Japanese kobe beef – might not actually be real kobe beef. Matter of fact, according to an article by the inside edition, upon investigation some restaurants that were advertising kobe beef on the menu, were in reality serving the customers lesser value meat. Some of these well-known restaurants that were mentioned in the article issued a public apology and immediately changed their menu wording to no longer use Kobe beef.

According to an article by Oishii desu, as of 2020 – there are only 37 restaurants in all of the United States that have been certified to sell the genuine prized Kobe steak.

The best way to know if it is truly kobe beef that your ordering on a steak menu, ask the restaurant manager to see their Kobe beef certification. If they come up with excuses on why you cannot see it, you might be better off ordering another kind of steak to avoid paying a premium price for something that is not real quality.

Well there you have it. If you stayed till the end of the post, we hope you have been well informed and gained a lot of value. Make sure to share this blog post with others to make sure they are informed of these fake foods; you can use the share link to the right on the bottom of the page. Until the post, stay informed. Genius Tomato out!

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