No real surprises ...

... Truffles

... Maple Syrup

... Wasabi

... Parmesan Cheese

... Vanilla

... Caviar

... Honey

... Olive Oil

... Wagyu Beef

... Coffee

... Saffron

 

On 2/8/2021 at 11:42 AM, superal said:

Twas not until recently that I was aware that both olive oil , extra virgin olive oil and also honey in Thailand can be faked with fake honey coming mostly from China who do not deliver directly from China but do so through other innocent countries soas not to raise suspicions . China's fake honey production rises year on year whilst the world's bee population declines year on year . 

So vast amounts of both honey and olive oils are sold by supermarkets under various labels which are either unreadable because of micro print or the info has been covered by the stores own pricing label ( very common on many supermarket items ) . 

So my point is , how can you be confident of buying an authentic  product ?    Google search gives some methods of home testing but by then you have already made the purchase . I am somewhat surprised  that given the high cost of the two products the supermarkets do not give any assurances of the authenticity . 

I remember a couple of years ago in the UK it was possible to trace a products origin by way of a given traceability serial number but TIT .

Yes, there have been numerous articles stating that 70% of honey and olive oil sold in the US is fake.  As for honey the only way outside a laboratory is to crystalize it or part of it as :"fake" honey does not crystalize as that is what I read into it.  These articles also state that much

fake honey comes from countries in Asia.  scary to say the least as our governments should penalize those countries that cannot control it.  But then again, the US can't control the drugs coming from Canada, China and Mexico either and these are definitely killers.

On 2/9/2021 at 11:03 AM, superal said:

I think that buying the product at source is the only way to be confident that you have  genuine olive oil or honey. Some folk believe that buying a well known label ,which is top end price such as Bertolli , is a sure fire way of getting the real thing but I am afraid they are wrong . These top of the market products began life as an authentic produce until dodgy mafia gangs changed the content somewhat in order to make significant profits ( in excess of $1 billion a year ) in Europe . Supermarket shelves are loaded with so called olive oil and honey which were procured by the stores buyers who are mostly interested in maximising profits for their store . ( that's their job and they are judged on their buying performance annually ) , So a kind of conflict of interest .

Even then, I was assigned to the Embassy in Madrid, during that period, there were a lot of "mysterious" deaths and eventually, the bloodwork of those was sent to the US for analysis.  Turned out, someone in Spain had taken motor oil (lowest grade possible of olive oil) and relabeled it as cooking oil.  When the Spanish government outlawed all that named cooking oil, the citizens complained as they could no longer buy the cheap cooking oil though it was deadly!!!!

On 2/8/2021 at 10:00 PM, Moonlover said:

Yep, that's my favourite. The one I just mentioned above.

I buy with hive contents and notice the crystilization on top of the honeycomb so assume that honey is genuine. If you can find a bee keeper you

might be lucky or not as I also read that some bee keeper lockup their bees and provide them with sugar water and then they make "fake" honey as the nutrients are missing.

On 2/9/2021 at 10:23 AM, Tarteso said:

of course, and it has its logic;

 

Vegetable oil and olive oil are both widely used in cooking.

While olive oil is derived from olives and tends to be less processed, vegetable oil is usually a blend of several plant oils and highly processed into a neutral-tasting product.

The processing of vegetable oil leaves it lacking in many of the healthy micronutrients and plant compounds that may otherwise be found in the plants used to make it. It’s also high in omega-6 fatty acids, which can contribute to inflammation.

Extra virgin olive oil, on the other hand, retains several trace vitamins and minerals and is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory monounsaturated fatty acids that may benefit heart and brain health.

see my later note on fake olive oil for cooking in Spain years ago!  Killed people and yet people complained when they couldn't buy that cheap olive cooking oil!

 

 

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

No real surprises ...

... Truffles

... Maple Syrup

... Wasabi

... Parmesan Cheese

... Vanilla

... Caviar

... Honey

... Olive Oil

... Wagyu Beef

... Coffee

... Saffron

 

Thanks for the information video . So in reality the ordinary man in the street has got no chance of avoiding fake products .That even goes for buying olive oil from Italy with the bottle even carrying a batch number . The safest way appears to be to buy from producers that use blockchain / QR code traceability but there are not many of them around . 

1 hour ago, Presnock said:

see my later note on fake olive oil for cooking in Spain years ago!  Killed people and yet people complained when they couldn't buy that cheap olive cooking oil!

 

 

Indeed, the experience was horrible since I lived in Spain in those years. It was not adulterated olive oil, what was sold was rapeseed oil (Canola) to which a dye called “aniline” was added, which is a component used to denature the oil for steel use but has the texture of olive oil. After the sale to consumers in 1981 by some heartless people, more than 5,000 died and 20,000 were affected. condemning the companies involved and the government itself to pay ridiculous compensation in the Macro trial that took place in 1986. It was then that a case related to the sale of that Rapeseed oil to the USA appeared, proving that it was the same product adulterated in Spain already previously analyzed and verified by a group of Spanish doctors and researchers from the Niño Jesús Hospital in Madrid.

On 2/8/2021 at 11:45 AM, VocalNeal said:

Put honey in the freezer. Real honey doesn't freeze. Or so my wife tells me.

You can always believe your wife. They always speak the truth.

4 minutes ago, Tarteso said:

Indeed, the experience was horrible since I lived in Spain in those years. It was not adulterated olive oil, what was sold was rapeseed oil (Canola) to which a dye called “aniline” was added, which is a component used to denature the oil for steel use but has the texture of olive oil. After the sale to consumers in 1981 by some heartless people, more than 5,000 died and 20,000 were affected. condemning the companies involved and the government itself to pay ridiculous compensation in the Macro trial that took place in 1986. It was then that a case related to the sale of that Rapeseed oil to the USA appeared, proving that it was the same product adulterated in Spain already previously analyzed and verified by a group of Spanish doctors and researchers from the Niño Jesús Hospital in Madrid.

You would think that because of the Macro trial ,  large food retailers would make sure that their buyers would be diligent with their procurement of goods but I do not think that is the case today .