DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU EAT?

Recently a new line of defense has been established in the food industry.  Machines to quickly determine the DNA of a food product are now selling.  Thermo-Fisher Scientific is providing the industry of regulation of food with new tools.  Not all food will be tested, but an eye on imports is showing that a significant percentage of the small number tested indicate that olive oil, honey and maple syrup are easily diluted with other products.

An article in the Washington Post gives much more detail on the subject.  Lindsey Layton describes much of what is being done and, more importantly, that which is still needed.  She writes: "Some honey makers dilute their honey with sugar beets or corn syrup, their competitors say, but still market it as 100 percent pure at a premium price....."Food fraud" has been documented in fruit juice, olive oil, spices, vinegar, wine, spirits and maple syrup, and appears to pose a significant problem in the seafood industry. Victims range from the shopper at the local supermarket to multimillion companies, including E&J Gallo and Heinz USA."

A new fad is Agave Nectar.  It is described in this article as The Triumph of Marketing Over Truth.  Several articles I read suggest it is just another way of getting fructose syrup.  Judge for yourself.  It has a much more popular use and that is when it is refined to Tequila.

As I used Google to do a bit of research on this subject, I found as many articles warning against food scams were scams themselves.   However, for yet another warning, click here.