FISHY TALES OF FOOD ADULTERATIONS

Know what you are eating!
Food adulteration has now become rampant internationally!
Those mindless mongers!!

In recent times there have been reports of frauds in consumable goods. Wiljo Import en Export BV and Vleesgroothandel Willy Selten, owned by a Dutch, sold beef mixed with horse meat, a scandal that cheated consumers from UK, the Republic of Ireland, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Germany.

This horse meat scandal has opened up a Pandora’s Box on food security, food safety and on consumer fraud, which is totally unacceptable. 

Food Adulteration is a global problem involving not only the Underdeveloped Nations but also the so called developed Nations.

The Horse Meat Scandal is only the tip of an iceberg!

Such type of fraud is also common for other consumable products such as juices, spices, milk, vegetable oils, seafood, fruit juices, and even ice creams.

According to a news bulletin published in January 2013, nearly 800 new records of food fraud spanning between 2011 and 2012 were added to the US Pharmacopeial Convention’s Food Fraud Database.

These fraudulent acts might have existed long back, thanks to the recent technological development that has started to expose them. 

Since proteins in meat undergo denaturation while processing/cooking, DNA based techniques become handy in testing adulteration in organic foods. PCR based techniques, DNA Finger printing, DNA barcoding techniques are now being used to test and confirm the validity of the claim by manufacturers.

Some of the scandals that have been recently exposed:

• In the UK, Sweden, and France, where beef products have been found to contain as much as 29% horsemeat. 
• The coffee supposed to be from the beans of Coffea arabica were found to be from another variety Coffea robusta and it even contain powders derived from twigs, corn, rye flour, or acorns. 
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• In UK, the fruit present in an ice cream labeled as ‘raspberry ripple’, a vanilla ice cream containing thin swirls of raspberry syrup was found to contain strawberry instead. People who are allergic to strawberry are actually been taken for a ride! Without honest labeling, consumers with allergies remain at risk! 
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• In February 2013, the ocean conservation group Oceana found that fully one-third of the 1215 canned fish samples tested from 21 different states in US were mislabeled and 54% of retail establishments tested were selling mislabeled fish. 

- Dr. P. Kumarasamy

Visit this site to find out shocking information on organic food adulterations.

http://www.foodfraud.org 

I searched the site for meat adulterations and the results are here!
http://www.foodfraud.org/search/site?search_api_views_fulltext=meat