Story by Dana Rengel
Forgive me for being sensational, but literally every food corporation out there is terrible and lying to you.
I’m mostly joking, but the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is not. USP is a scientific nonprofit organization that, according to its mission statement, “sets standards for the identity, strength, quality and purity of medicines, food ingredients and dietary supplements manufactured, distributed and consumed worldwide.” These standards are enforceable by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. USP is also responsible for the Food Fraud Database, which is where things get nasty.
Food fraud is the act of mislabeling and falsely advertising the ingredients and purity of products by food companies. It is considered a profit-driven tactic used to sell a cheaper product at a higher price — using filler ingredients or diluting ingredients to keep costs down. @@ definition not checked @@
“Bulking up food with adulterants would cut costs and therefore increase profits,” said Andy Jorgenson, a graduate in economics. “However, it runs the risk of quality diminishing.”
USP has created the Food Fraud Database to combat this. It’s a website where consumers can search scholarly and media articles that have tested and processed certain foods. Here are some of the notorious offenders:
Honey: Natural foodies love to talk about the health benefits of honey. According to the Food Fraud Database, some honeys are adulterated with other sweeteners such as corn syrup. @@ fact checked @@
“If consumers want to be certain that the honey they buy does not contain adulterants, they should be able to trace it back to the beekeeper that bottled it,” said Kelly Riggle, a former beekeeper’s apprentice. “Most of the honey in grocery stores comes from outside the country.
Coffee: Analyses of pre-ground coffee have found a multitude of inauthentic ingredients. Everything from coffee bean husks, acorns, twigs, barley, soybeans and chicory powder have been found — pretty much anything with a dark brown color once ground can be and has been added. @@ facts checked @@
Wine and spirits: The USP website’s research cites a number of adulterants in wine and spirits, most of which are water. In the more expensive brands of wine and hard alcohol, there are cases of what USP calls “non-authentic brand or age” — which means the label and price tag may state it is a better quality than it is. So if you can’t tell the difference between a cheap wine and an expensive one, it is possible that the two are the same. @@ I am not finding water as an adulterant @@
If you knew that the nutritional value of your foods wouldn’t be compromised, would you stop purchasing it? To be honest, I don’t know if I would. Senior in political science Gina Scalpone agrees.
“If it seemed something they had no control of, I don’t think I would stop purchasing it,” she said. @@ name checked @@
To increase your paranoia, visit foodfraud.org.