the-BA : Food and drink scams

What image does “extra virgin” bring to mind? Young, pure and natural, as fresh food should be; unspoiled like a child, in contrast to an adult. The term ‘adulterated’ is used for food that has lost its purity by being contaminated. Adulteration is more common than you might expect. Tests in the USA found that 70 out of 73 brands of ‘Extra virgin olive oil’ had been adulterated with other vegetable oils. Such scams rely on consumers not noticing the difference.

Have you ever wondered how to tell whether a food really is what it is supposed to be?

You might like to …

• find out about the work of the Food Standards Agency (www.foodstandards.gov.uk/enforcement)
• analyse cheap brands of vinegar and other solutions, to determine whether they are good value for money, or are cheaper because they have been watered down
• investigate the amount of water added to meat products such as bacon, increasing the weight (and the producer’s profit)
• research, and try out, ways to decide whether olive oil is pure, or mixed with other vegetable oils
• investigate food additives, such as preservatives and colourings; permitted additives have E-numbers; devise methods to check whether the additives are those declared on the packaging.
Note: the above practices can mislead unwary consumers, but are not all are necessarily illegal, provided the additions are declared on the label.

Further links:
www.food.gov.uk/foodlabelling/

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