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How we're scammed into eating phony food

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Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#21

Post by wildmusings »

>As with so much regarding food safety, the USDA, which makes the rules, and the FDA, which is meant to enforce them, are nowhere to be found. These institutions routinely cite cost-cutting and low staff.

Hmm. Maybe the better solution is to give consumers legal standing, with massive punitive damages, to sue restaurants to mislabeling food. Even better, make it a strict liability tort (i.e. no need to prove intent or negligence) if the restaurant is notified but doesn't clean up their act. Also, let the restaurants sue up the supply chain.

I bet that after the first restaurant or supplier loses a multi-million dollar lawsuit for pretending to serve Kobe beef or white tuna, the problem will solve itself.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#22

Post by dgacmu »

baddox wrote: post #14

The author recommends a few labels from food-certifying organizations, but can't food sellers or manufacturers just slap a logo on there too? Or do these food-certifying organizations' aggressively litigate for misuse of their labels?

They do - quite aggressively. It lets the localized producers sell at quite a markup, and a lot of the GI/DOC designations are protected at the level of international treaties.

http://www.gourmetretailer.com/top-story-profiles___trends-p...

WIPO and WTO handle a lot of them: http://www.wipo.int/geo_indications/en/

They seem to be more effective because there's a very direct cost/benefit to the GI-protected producers when people infringe. IANAL, but I suspect that because it's a WIPO/WTO treaty issue, it's also probably easier to prosecute than a very generic claim that someone is mislabeling "white tuna", again because the incentives are aligned for producer to show that they're being damaged by the forgery.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#23

Post by mavelikara »

Tomte wrote: post #3

According to https://www.teekampagne.de/en/tea/darjeeling-tea/only-accept... the Tea Board of India estimates that about 40000 tons of Darjeeling are sold all over the world. But only 10000 tons of tea are produced in Darjeeling.

I am not certain about this, but I think Sri Lanka is one of the largest exporters of Darjeeling Tea.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#24

Post by bloaf »

lucaspiller wrote: post #9

Not quite the same, but earlier this year I was working in Italy for a few months. I went back to the UK last week and it really surprised me how poor the quality of food is there. I don't mean in restaurants, but the actual ingredients you get in supermarkets. In Italy you can go into even the cheapest supermarkets and get tomatoes that smell like actual tomatoes, where as in the UK they just have no smell. Even tom…

Speaking of Italy, I was a little surprised the article mentioned olive oil, but not basalmic vinegar

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/09/balsamic-vinegar-fr...

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#25

Post by [deleted] »

lucaspiller wrote: post #9

Not quite the same, but earlier this year I was working in Italy for a few months. I went back to the UK last week and it really surprised me how poor the quality of food is there. I don't mean in restaurants, but the actual ingredients you get in supermarkets. In Italy you can go into even the cheapest supermarkets and get tomatoes that smell like actual tomatoes, where as in the UK they just have no smell. Even tom…

[deleted]

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#26

Post by venomsnake »

> That Kobe is probably Wagyu, a cheaper, passable cut, Olmsted says.

I am not sure if something is lost in translation between the article and the books' authors, but that is rubbish. Kobe beef is PDO (which US is not participating internationally), so you can cure ham at home, and call it "best original prosciutto".

Wagyu is a breed of cattle. And depending on the produces/sourcing it may even surpass the beef from Kobe (which also comes from Wagyu animals) in quality. There is nothing that prevents US farmer or Australian one of producing the best beef in the world. Or the best wine, best cured meats, best beer, best cheese, best whatever.

Some people try to capitalize by falsely designating their products as coming from regions that have put centuries into perfecting products. That says nothing about the quality of the underlying product - it depends on the producer.

Kobe beef - for USDA and the like means nothing. You can call your beef Kobe, Kube, Kombe, Kombat, Kohinoor and it will be all the same as long as it is beef.

In the other parts of the world Kobe beef means well - beef produced in Kobe, in a specific way that is of certain quality.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#27

Post by venomsnake »

wildmusings wrote: post #21

> As with so much regarding food safety, the USDA, which makes the rules, and the FDA, which is meant to enforce them, are nowhere to be found. These institutions routinely cite cost-cutting and low staff. Hmm. Maybe the better solution is to give consumers legal standing, with massive punitive damages, to sue restaurants to mislabeling food. Even better, make it a strict liability tort (i.e. no need to prove intent…

Most of that mislabeling is legal. Unless there is standard set by the USDA/FDA marketing has free reign. I can totally call my salmon "purplefin tuna"

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#28

Post by wildmusings »

venomsnake wrote: post #27
wildmusings wrote: post #21

> As with so much regarding food safety, the USDA, which makes the rules, and the FDA, which is meant to enforce them, are nowhere to be found. These institutions routinely cite cost-cutting and low staff. Hmm. Maybe the better solution is to give consumers legal standing, with massive punitive damages, to sue restaurants to mislabeling food. Even better, make it a strict liability tort (i.e. no need to prove intent…

Most of that mislabeling is legal. Unless there is standard set by the USDA/FDA marketing has free reign. I can totally call my salmon "purplefin tuna"

I'm skeptical, but if so, it sounds like another aspect of the law that needs to be changed. Definitions can be tricky, but the difficulty in drawing an exact line doesn't necessarily matter. There will be plenty of cases where the line has clearly been crossed. And sure, give the defendant the benefit of the doubt in those cases where it's a close call.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#29

Post by mirimir »

el_benhameen wrote: post #10
mirimir wrote: post #5

US restaurants need not list ingredients. But is it illegal for them to lie? That's an honest question.

In some places, yes. A few sushi spots around here were fined for using not-lobster in their lobster dishes: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-fake-lobster-r...

An FDA FAQ tells me:[0]

> Inspections and licensing of restaurants and grocery stores are typically handled by local and county health departments. However, FDA serves as a scientific and technical consultant to state and local regulatory agencies by publishing the FDA Food Code, which sets forth model provisions for keeping food safe in restaurant, cafeteria, and institutional food operations. Most states adopt these model provisions as legal requirements applicable to restaurants and food-service establishments within their jurisdictions.

Looking at Food Code 2013, I don't see anything about ingredient listing for restaurant food. But I do see this at p 102:[1]

> 3-601.12 Honestly Presented.

> (A) FOOD shall be offered for human consumption in a way that does not mislead or misinform the CONSUMER.

> (B) FOOD or COLOR ADDITIVES, colored overwraps, or lights may not be used to misrepresent the true appearance, color, or quality of a FOOD.

[0] http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/Transparency/Basics/ucm194244.ht...

[1] http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/RetailFoodProtect...

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