A third of food is mis-labeled

[Buddy Bradley]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/07/fake-food-scandal-revealed-tests-products-mislabelled

The checks on hundreds of food samples, which were taken in West Yorkshire, revealed that more than a third were not what they claimed to be, or were mislabelled in some way. Testers also discovered beef mince adulterated with pork or poultry, and even a herbal slimming tea that was neither herb nor tea but glucose powder laced with a withdrawn prescription drug for obesity at 13 times the normal dose.

A third of fruit juices sampled were not what they claimed or had labelling errors. Two contained additives that are not permitted in the EU, including brominated vegetable oil, which is designed for use in flame retardants and linked to behavioural problems in rats at high doses.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Sadly, this doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Adulteration of food has been happening for centuries, and as councils are forced to cut back on food safety work the level of adulteration will increase.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

It shouldn't be a local government issue really.

 

[geminisnake]

It shouldn't be a local government issue really.

No it shouldn't but the central Govt isn't very good or trustworthy either is it?

 

[Maurice Picarda]

No it shouldn't but the central Govt isn't very good or trustworthy either is it?

It would have the scale for larger and more robust investigations into food manufacturing or imports, and to pursue some high profile cases, which would might keep the industry on its toes.

 

[moon]

Is it any wonder that rates of cancer are soaring when we dont know whats in our food, and much of it is from dodgy sources..

 

[Awesome Wells]

This is not just mislabelling, it's blatant criminality. herb tea that's just drugs and glucose powder? It sounds like Breaking Bad meets the Good Life!

 

[ViolentPanda]

This is not just mislabelling, it's blatant criminality. herb tea that's just drugs and glucose powder? It sounds like Breaking Bad meets the Good Life!

Thanks a fucking lot!!

I'm now stuck with a mental image of Margot whoring herself for her next hit!

 

[stuff_it]

I guess it proves I was wrong that those herbal slimming teas have fuck all in them.

 

[gentlegreen]

I just googled "slimming tea" and found this :-

Oolong Tea Buy from as little as £6.66 per box! Oolong tea (aka Wulong) increases fat burning ability. Weight loss benefits are huge and it's more effective for boosting the metabolism...

Oolong Tea Contains:
Oolong Tea, Hawthorn, Lemon Grass and Orange Peel.

1 box contains 20 x 2g bags.

40 grammes for £14.95 = 37p per gramme

buy 6 boxes for £39.95 = 16p per gramme

---------------------------------

I drink Oolong tea very day. I pay £8 for 250g. = 3p per gramme
Sadly it doesn't make me lose weight.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Thanks a fucking lot!!

I'm now stuck with a mental image of Margot whoring herself for her next hit!

You've just ruined that programme for me now.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I just googled "slimming tea" and found this :-

Oolong Tea Buy from as little as £6.66 per box! Oolong tea (aka Wulong) increases fat burning ability. Weight loss benefits are huge and it's more effective for boosting the metabolism...

Oolong Tea Contains:
Oolong Tea, Hawthorn, Lemon Grass and Orange Peel.

1 box contains 20 x 2g bags.

40 grammes for £14.95 = 37p per gramme

buy 6 boxes for £39.95 = 16p per gramme

---------------------------------

I drink Oolong tea very day. I pay £8 for 250g. = 3p per gramme
Sadly it doesn't make me lose weight.

The oolong I've got is just tea, and none of that other stuff in it so that's where you might be going wrong. Or you need one with amphetamines mixed in.

 

[moon]

It also makes me wonder whats in the food sold at fast food/takeaway places. Is that stuff ever checked?

 

[gentlegreen]

The oolong I've got is just tea, and none of that other stuff in it so that's where you might be going wrong. Or you need one with amphetamines mixed in.

The same supplier even sells "slimming patches".

 

[UnderOpenSky]

It also makes me wonder whats in the food sold at fast food/takeaway places. Is that stuff ever checked?

TBH I'd rather not know what's in a kebab.

 

[gentlegreen]

veganism FTW.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

veganism FTW.

Unless you eat no processed food at all then you're still at the mercy of who makes the food to be honest.

 

[moon]

TBH I'd rather not know what's in a kebab.

The meat in takeaway pizza is just rank as is the lasagne.. <pukes>

 

[gentlegreen]

This must be the stuff :-
Phenolphthalein was previously used as a laxative but is no longer authorised for sale in the UK as it may cause cancer.
Sibutramine was previously used to treat obesity but no longer licensed due to its association with an increased risk of cardiovascular side effects such as heart attack and stroke.
http://www.mhra.gov.uk/Safetyinform...afetyupdates/Allherbalsafetyupdates/CON143806

I remember using Phenolphthalein when I worked in a chemistry lab for something - some sort of titration indicator ?

 

[UnderOpenSky]

The meat in takeaway pizza is just rank as is the lasagne.. <pukes>

I really like bad food.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

TBH I'd rather not know what's in a kebab.

I watched a programme years back about a kebab factory. Although it was just one example, I was surprised at how good the ingredients were. No shit in sight. I suppose we're all more likely to remember the stories in the paper about maggots found on kebabs on the spinny thing in a takeaway somewhere than the good outlets.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

It also makes me wonder whats in the food sold at fast food/takeaway places. Is that stuff ever checked?

This study in West Yorkshire did I think.

 

[moon]

I watched a programme years back about a kebab factory. Although it was just one example, I was surprised at how good the ingredients were. No shit in sight. I suppose we're all more likely to remember the stories in the paper about maggots found on kebabs on the spinny thing in a takeaway somewhere than the good outlets.

Well i guess if they knew cameras would be there..

 

[danny la rouge]

This is not just mislabelling, it's blatant criminality. herb tea that's just drugs and glucose powder? It sounds like Breaking Bad meets the Good Life!

Excellent pitch. I'd commission that.

 

[moon]

I watched a programme years back about a kebab factory. Although it was just one example, I was surprised at how good the ingredients were. No shit in sight. I suppose we're all more likely to remember the stories in the paper about maggots found on kebabs on the spinny thing in a takeaway somewhere than the good outlets.

Also a mate whose family owned a kebab 'restaurant' told me not to eat the doner kebab meat as it was full of crap..

 

[pogofish]

I watched a programme years back about a kebab factory. Although it was just one example, I was surprised at how good the ingredients were. No shit in sight. I suppose we're all more likely to remember the stories in the paper about maggots found on kebabs on the spinny thing in a takeaway somewhere than the good outlets.

I think that may be because the Kebab industry was the target of one of the very first big health scares back in the mid-late 1970s and the company that produces by far the majority of the Donner meat rolls in the UK did a lot to pull-up standards.

 

[pogofish]

This must be the stuff :-
Phenolphthalein was previously used as a laxative but is no longer authorised for sale in the UK as it may cause cancer.
I remember using Phenolphthalein when I worked in a chemistry lab for something - some sort of titration indicator ?

Yup - its still used in some of our labs and as an indicator/drain tracer by water/sewage companies. I remember getting several kinds of shit once when I dumped some and had the water board track it straight back to my building. Apparently i lit-up all the pipes between there and the main outfall!

 

[George & Bill]

Samples were collected both as part of general surveillance of all foods and as part of a programme targeted at categories of foodstuffs where cutting corners is considered more likely.

They were emphasising on the radio that the findings were from tests that were targeted where fraud was thought to be likely. So although it's alarming it probably doesn't mean that a third of food is mislabled.

 

[Awesome Wells]

Thanks a fucking lot!!

I'm now stuck with a mental image of Margot whoring herself for her next hit!

Excellent pitch. I'd commission that.

"Oh tom, here come the luminescent space pixies again!"

 

[shagnasty]

We used to put pigs heart in the mince to colour it up a bit,much more redder .the only way to get good quality mince is to buy braising or stewing steak and mince it yourself