Fake Foods You'll Never Eat Again Once You Know How They Are Made

It is scary to think about but shopping at a grocery store or eating out puts the consumer in a vulnerable position. The average person has to trust the food industry to ethically raise, prepare, and label their food accurately because the alternative of being self-sufficient is not practical for most. The food industry knows this and takes advantage.

Food fraud is a common practice in the industry and even has a historical context. During the medieval period foreign spices were faked by traders who mixed cheaper local herbs such as oregano with more expensive wares such as black pepper. During the Industrial Revolution flour was diluted with chalk. The modern era brings even more opportunities for fake food, including species substitution.

 Economic reasons, may be the motivating factor but it can be difficult to nail down exactly how often this occurs and how much this costs because the culprits are skilled in their deception. According to the Food and Drug Administration, an outside estimate found that food fraud impacts 1% of the global food industry costing around $10-15 million. Other estimates are even bleaker placing the cost at $40 million.

Things are not all doom and gloom. An educated consumer can do their due diligence to avoid fake foods when armed with some knowledge. The 12 items on this list will help you do just that.

It is easy to assume when buying your favorite fruit juice that the pretty label on the outside of the bottle reflects what is inside. Unfortunately, this is not always the case as a recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health found. The Food and Drug Administration allows the name and graphic to represent the juice's flavor but not its actual ingredients. This study could not conclusively prove if consumers were aware of this deception.

In order to make a more informed purchase, read the label carefully when picking a fruit juice. Drinks that are not 100% juice will have words such as fruit cocktail, nectar, or punch with water being one of the main ingredients.Essentially, the label on fruit juice could be lying to you, so don't be fooled by the pretty graphics.

Beyond the misleading labeling, fruit juice has other drawbacks. When one chooses to drink a glass of juice instead of eating a piece of fruit, one does not get the benefits of fiber. Fruit juice is also high in sugar comparable to drinking a soda. Fruit juice is not all bad as it does have vitamins, but like deli meat, it should be consumed in moderation.

Most people don't spend a lot of time thinking about baby carrots. Which is why it is easy to assume the food item is simply an immature carrot like the name implies. The truth is baby carrots are another processed food in disguise. There are no daddy and mommy carrots involved in their creation.

Baby carrots are just normal carrots that are cut up and processed to be small and adorable. First their tops are cut off and then they are cut into two inch pieces. Next they are peeled and the edges are smoothed in a process called polishing. Then they are inspected and packaged to send out to the uneducated masses. When one buys baby carrots, one is paying for the process without any added health benefits. It is much more cost effective to buy plain old normal carrots to chop and peel them yourself. A one pound bag of Green Giant baby carrots from Dollar General goes for $1.95 on Door Dash while plain old regular carrots cost $.99 a pound.

Carrots have been touted as a perfect health food and have many benefits. They are a good source of beta carotene, fiber, vitamin K1, and potassium. They have been proven to improve eyesight, lower cholesterol, and reduce the risk of cancer. While baby carrots are indeed carrots, they're really nothing more than clever marketing.

Snagging fresh, good seafood can be expensive for a restaurant and imitation crab is frequently used in sushi, seafood salad, and crab cakes even if it is not expressly stated on the menu or label. Some restaurants labeled it as "krab" to indicate its less-than-authentic state. Imitation crab is essentially processed fish called surimi. Surimi is made by taking fish, most of the time pollock, de-boning, washing, and mincing into a paste. Other ingredients such as water, starches, and protein are added before it is heated and molded into a crab meat like shape. It is used because it is cheaper than real crab meat.

Real crab meat contains better nutrients than its counterpart. Three ounces of imitation crab contains only 6.5 grams of protein while the same amount of the real deal has more than double at 16.5 grams. The additives used to create imitation crab such as monosodium glutamate also known as MSG and sodium benzoate are technically safe to consume but have been loosely linked to health concerns with more studies needed to comprehensively prove this theory.  The bottom line is imitation crab meat is processed and sometimes known as the hotdog of the sea so it is good to one be aware of what one is getting into when eating it.

It is almost a given when watching the big game that there will be chips and guacamole. Americans eat 105 million pounds of the delicious green dip on Super Bowl Sunday, alone. Almost everyone has an opinion on how to best make the popular dish, and of course, may opt to take the easy way out and buy it premade.

Some versions such as Old El Paso's Chunky Guacamole rely on additives to extend their shelf life. It is chock full of sulfites as well as other surprising ingredients. It contains potato flakes, modified corn starch, and sugar. Perhaps its biggest offenses are the cream cheese, cream, whey extract, whey powder, and caseinate, as most guacamole purists would be horrified at the addition of any milk products. Its main ingredient is water instead of avocados.

There are alternative ways to keep premade guacamole fresh. Other brands such as Wholly Guacamole do not use additives but instead turn to science utilizing a process called high pressure processing technology. This is all natural and approved by the United States Department of Agriculture. It works by applying water pressure so high that microorganisms and enzymes remain dormant preventing bacteria such as salmonella from growing without diminishing nutrition and taste. If you are going to consume premade guacamole this is the superior method of preparation to look out for.

Truffles are a popular, trendy buzz word in the culinary scene. Part of their appeal is their scarcity which also makes them a prime target for food fraud. Truffle oil is the most accessible way to enter into the exclusive world of truffles but oftentimes is faked. Many truffle oils are made with synthetic ingredients such as 2,4-dithiapentane instead of actual truffles. This molecule gives the unique earthy aroma tricking the consumer into believing its validity. Some chefs will even go as far as using the oil in dishes that have actual truffles in them just to ensure guests get the full aromatic experience.

It is extremely difficult to grow truffles. These fungi grow underground on the roots of specific trees such as French Oaks developing a symbiotic relationship. The truffles help the tree find water and the tree provides sugars and starches. A human cannot tell when a truffle is ripe without the help of a specially trained dog or pig. It can take years for a truffle crop to come into fruition making this an expensive and risky undertaking.

Many people are willing to spend big money on the culinary delicacy adding fuel to the fraudulent fire. In 2014, one anonymous Hong Kong bidder spent $120,000 on two pieces of white truffle weighing two pounds. In 2012, Jay-Z spent $20,000 at Alba's truffle locations in Italy, cementing the food item's celebrity status.

Lobster is a dish often reserved for special occasions such as anniversaries and birthdays. It is just so fancy. A celebration such as that can be ruined by a fake lobster which is a more complex problem than one might think. Barton Seaver, the director of Healthy and Sustainable Food Programs at the Harvard School of Public Health, breaks this down stating that the problem is twofold. There are dozens of species of lobster and the average consumer is not educated about this fact. Seaver's comments were a reaction to a Inside Edition investigation that found 35% of lobster ordered from 28 restaurants was fake.

Imitation lobster comes in a couple of different forms such as a mixture of Alaskan pollack, whiting, or haddock. This version goes through the same process of surimi as fake crab meat to be passed off as real lobster. Some people also wrongly consider Langostino a type of fake lobster but according to Bob Bayer, the executive director of the Lobster Institute, this is inaccurate information. Langostino is legitimate but not what people expect when ordering so make sure to confirm with your server the actual species to avoid disappointment. Some other tips to avoid fake lobster is to order it prepared simply. If it has claws, it is probably the real thing. If you order soups, raviolis, and salads your chances of getting real lobster is much lower.