[dandandans]

I don't think it's a coincidence that these fake food articles—truffle oil, olive oil, seafood—are springing up after Larry Olmsted recently published Real Food/Fake Food: Why You Don’t Know What You’re Eating and What You Can Do about It.

Olmsted exposes rampant fraudulent labeling and deceptive practices in the food industry, including Parmesan cheese, olive oil, truffle oil, seafood (salmon, snapper, white tuna, shrimp), Kobe beef, and more.

I'm about halfway through the book, and it's shocking. It's definitely changed how I shop for certain food and what I order in restaurants.

[lbenes]

How can our government be failing us so miserably? Ensuring that our food is safe and properly labeled should be the most basic duties of a government. And yet they are failing us miserably. In April of 2011, a paper was published showing that 69% of store-bought olive oil was fake,[1] and yet the government has done practically nothing to protect us.

In 2013, there was the Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak causing deadly brain absences in children and making hundreds sick. But nothing was done for over a year.[2] Instead of fixing the problems here, the government reacts by allowing China to process our chicken making the problem that much harder trace.[3]

We’ve let Industry and lobbyists take our democracy from us with their super pacs and regulatory capture. When are people going to get fed up with this and demand that our government starts protecting us instead of the industry?

[1] http://olivecenter.ucdavis.edu/research/files/report041211fi...

[2] http://www.laweekly.com/restaurants/foster-farms-finally-rec...

[3] https://www.davidwolfe.com/usda-shipping-chickens-china-proc...

[tormeh]

Look on the bright side: We got an experiment showing what happens when we let the market solve an issue involving an invisible quality.

The same result applies to software security.

[Radim]

Right! These pesky free markets.

If only we had a government, things like this couldn't possibly happen.

Oh, wait...

[eli]

A government that actually regulated olive oil would result in fewer incidents of fraudulent olive oil, yeah.

[hiou]

Something something free markets fix everything.

[refurb]

Hmmmm.... The gov't has done nothing at this point, yet someone discovered there were fake foods, shared the information and consumers are now aware and avoiding them.

So yeah, I'd say the free markets are working.

[Cpoll]

And it only took a few decades. And every time there's some major olive oil scandal, we don't end up with less adulterated olive oil.

I don't have an opinion on free vs. regulated, but I wouldn't agree that free markets are working the way you claim.

[refurb]

Well, it looks like the free markets moved faster than the gov't in this case.

[vtlynch]

So someone doing something is automatically attributed to the free market? Im not sure that is how it works.

[VodkaHaze]

Something something information asymmetry problem

[jfoutz]

Well, how much is a kid really worth? Sure, if it's your kid, a ton, but really it's like a decade or two before we even start evaluating potential. Losing 10-30% probably isn't that big of a deal.

There are a few influential thinkers who talked about this in the past, Jonathan swift is worth looking into.

[Avshalom]

Just to add to your links: http://reprints.longform.org/bug-system-hylton

fun quotes:

But when federal limits are breached, and officials believe that a recall is necessary, their only option is to ask the producer to remove the product voluntarily. Even then, officials may only request a recall when they have proof that the meat is already making customers sick. As evidence, the F.S.I.S. typically must find a genetic match between the salmonella in a victim’s body and the salmonella in a package of meat that is still in the victim’s possession, with its label still attached.

[gumby]

> How can our government be failing us so miserably? Ensuring that our food is safe and properly labeled should be the most basic duties of a government.

In the United States food is regulated by the Department of Agriculture. Its FDA regulates food and drug safety. The rest of it works with farmers to increase production and ensure food is produced in volume at the lowest cost.

I think you can see the problem here :-(

We have the same problem at the Department of the Interior which regulates open space and its use and takes care of maximizing the land's economic value (i.e. grants mining and other extractive uses like grazing on public lands).

At least the interior department got free drugs and sex from oil company employees while as far as I can tell the ag department doesn't get that kind of "in kind" industry encouragement: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/washington/11royalty.html

PS: Interior is also responsible with relations with the various tribes, which hasn't worked out too well for them either.

[pekk]

I assume you support increased funding to FDA so they can hire more people and facilities to go after these cases, and that you are persuading others to also support this.

[ddeck]

Hiring the right people is likely to be more productive than hiring more. The FDA has a "revolving door" problem with the industries it is supposed to be regulating.

From a NY Times editorial on their poor response to a recent issue with supplements:

Much of the responsibility for the F.D.A.’s sluggish response must fall on Dr. Daniel Fabricant, who left a senior position at the Natural Products Association, a trade group for supplement makers and sellers, to head the F.D.A.’s division of dietary supplement programs in early 2011 and who jumped back to the trade association as its chief executive in the spring of 2014. He has been succeeded at the F.D.A. by several acting directors; the current one is Cara Welch, from the same trade group. Both dragged their feet on BMPEA. [1]

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/13/opinion/conflicts-of-inter...

[pbhjpbhj]

Who choose to employ the fix to watch the hen-coop? Did they mysteriously get richer at the same time? Is there no government oversight of this?

I think USA needs to invade itself and bring some democracy along.

[rwmj]

You could pay them more. That's the Singapore model of good government (https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2012-01-25/why-singa...).

[kwhitefoot]

Isn't there any kind of quarantine period?

[pyre]

The FDA has its own set of problems. I feel like increasing funding doesn't guarantee that they will spend it on sorting out this fake food business.

[Retric]

This is a Department of Justice problem not an FDA problem FDA is focused on human Heath, not fraud.

[justinlardinois]

Did you really have to link to David Wolfe?

[dandandans]

Here are a few notes:

* 91% of seafood consumed in the United States is imported, and half of it is farmed. Yet only one-thousandth of 1 percent of imports are inspected for fraud.

* A study of NYC seafood done by Oceana, a non-profit marine conservation group, found fraud in 58% of retail outlets and 39% of restaurants.

* Every sushi restaurant from which samples were collected—100%—served fake fish

* A supermarket test 2011 found that the five top-selling imported "extra virgin" olive oil brands in the United States failed to meet the basic legal standard 73% of the time.

* In 2001, the USDA banned the importation of Kobe eef due to cases of mad cow disease. The ban was lifted in 2012, but only a handful of restaurants/suppliers are able to obtain real Kobe Beef. Yet, we've all seen Kobe beef plastered everywhere on menus; it's all fake.

* Kobe is a completely unregulated term. Under USDA regulations, the legal requirement for calling something Kobe beef is that it qualifies as beef.

[wfunction]

> Every sushi restaurant from which samples were collected—100%—served fake fish

I'm confused, what were they serving instead? Bison? Crab? Chicken? Tofu? Sharks? How can you fake fish?

If I'm being honest, this sounds like an exaggeration to me. Maybe rephrase if that's not what you meant?

(Edit: See my comment below [1] referring to Wikipedia -- it appears it's not even clear these are being mislabeled in the first place. Some people just don't think there is a huge distinction between the species; others do. That's another reason why this seems like a gross exaggeration of what is going on.)

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12466029

[mcpherrinm]

It's mislabelled fish.

You can find the report here http://oceana.org/reports/widespread-seafood-fraud-found-new...

There's a chart on page 5 for the substitutions. For example, replacing white tuna with escolar.

[ohyes]

At McDonald's they specifically market it as "the fish" in a non specific way.

In a fine dining establishment they do actually market it as a particular type of fish. And particular types of fish do typically have different attributes (Heavy metal content or fat and oil content, parasite risks).

If I sold you an "i7 with 16gig of ram" but when you opened the computer up it was actually a pentium 4 with 2 gig, you'd be really pissed. If I had just marketed it as "computer" you wouldn't have a basis to be angry.

Imagine if I came back to you and said "oh gee, I guess that happens, knowing what I'm selling you is tough, our records aren't so good."

I would be completely fucking negligent, at best, and more likely I would be dishonest. Particularly when I'm selling an inferior product as a superior one. You'll notice no one ever asks for escolar and gets something that is actually much better. If it happens repeatedly and endemically, it is almost certainly fraud.

They're currently making a lot of money bilking consumers with an inferior product to what they have advertised.

I guess my point is that mislabeled is too generous to the character of the industry. Mislabeled implies someone made a "mistake." "Fake fish" maybe isn't exactly semantically correct, but it is closer to the nature of crime. (Maybe we can agree on "fraudulent fish", I think I like that better.)

[wfunction]

It should be called "mislabeled fish" then. "Fake fish" sounds like they're selling you chicken or something, which is way more terrifying for someone trying to eat fish -- not everyone cares exactly what the species is so long as it's fish, but they'd freak out it wasn't even some kind of fish.

Take note of [1]:

> Escolar is considered by the FDA and most fish experts to be Tuna

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escolar#Mislabeling

[undersuit]

>not everyone cares exactly what the species is so long as it's fish, but they'd freak out it wasn't even some kind of fish.

I would say that is about 100% wrong.

I don't order "the fish" in any restaurant. I order what's on the menu, and if the menu says it's snapper, I expect snapper. If it's not snapper, change your menu.

Wouldn't you object to my restaurant serving you Angus beef when you actually ordered the Wagyu?

[wfunction]

>> not everyone cares exactly what the species is

> I would say that is about 100% wrong. I don't order "the fish" in any restaurant.

You aren't everyone. And people generally try not to be sarcastic when ordering, either. Ordering "the fish" in a seafood restaurant would be obviously sarcastic. In another kind of restaurant, it isn't necessarily.

Heck, take a look at "Filet-O-Fish" on McDonald's menu: https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/product/filet-o-fish.html

> Dive into our wild-caught fish sandwich! Sourced from sustainable fisheries, topped with melty American cheese and creamy tartar sauce, and served on a soft, steamed bun.

What kind of fish is it? You have no idea from just looking at the menu. But people order it anyway. Maybe you don't, but you are not everyone.

And no, this isn't the only restaurant (or "food place", or whatever you want to call it) in the world that does this.

[jameshart]

In New England restaurants you'll find 'scrod' on a lot of menus. It means something different in every restaurant.

[pekk]

> Wouldn't you object to my restaurant serving you Angus beef when you actually ordered the Wagyu?

If I cared enough to order such a thing. But it isn't a safety issue, it's a truth in advertising issue. Hard when the truth involved is something like the distinction of champagne vs. sparkling wine.

[awqrre]

While escolar might be considered Tuna according to Wikipedia, here is a quote from the FDA's website: "FDA recommendation: Escolar should not be marketed in interstate commerce" [1] (because of the possible presense of gempylotoxin, a strong purgative oil (can cause severe diarrhea))

1. http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/HACCP/ucm078063.h...

[chris_7]

To me, the idea of eating something potentially mercury-toxic like tuna or swordfish when expecting something like salmon is pretty terrifying. I stay far away from those things. That seems unlikely to happen, though.

If it's just arctic char marked as salmon, meh.

[wfunction]

> To me, the idea of eating something potentially mercury-toxic like tuna or swordfish when expecting something like salmon is pretty terrifying.

Yes, that's why I very clearly said

> not everyone cares exactly what the species is

And was anyone substituting salmon with tuna in the first place? It's not like every wild substitution is being made. Like I said, the FDA is fine with some of them. Your viewpoint is just fine (and I'm with you honestly) but my point is that a lot of other people have others.

[zumu]

Escolar, which is often served in lieu of true tuna, is potentially harmful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keriorrhea

[Mindcraft]

If you are paying for an expensive fish and are served a cheap one, you are being ripped off. Someone may not care about what kind of fish they receive, but charge them more for that and I would say almost 99% would care.

[zumu]

'Tuna' might not be the best word to describe these fish species served as sushi. In the original Japanese the labeling is much more explicit, where they are called 'maguro' which is less broad a category than 'tuna'. So while escolar may be 'tuna', it's definitely not 'maguro'. In fact escolar has been illegal in Japan for for decades because it's considered harmful due to its diarrhea inducing wax ester content.

[dave_sullivan]

Agreed, I did a double take there too. "If not fish, what have I been eating?" But no, I'm still eating fish, and it tastes like all the other fish I get at the same price, unless I pay roughly triple, in which case I get noticeably tastier (apparently of a different species) fish.

Of course, mislabeled food is not fantastic, but I've figured for a while, when I order kobe beef sliders, "Yes, bold faced lies on the menu, but if it tastes good, who cares?" Transparency and reporting can go a long way here; isn't the rest just "market price" of whatever they're calling it today?

[Spooky23]

If you couldn't tell the difference between chicken and any fish, you probably should avoid it.

You'll notice the difference between escolar/"white tuna" and albacore tuna that we normally eat is that it's a lot cheaper, is oily and it gives you explosive orange diahharea.

[fsloth]

Apparently escolar can cause diarrhea. I'd rather be very specific of the species in this case.

[dandandans]

When fish is sliced, cut, and prepared, it's difficult to tell exactly what fish you are being served.

According to the book, here are common substitutes:

* Escolar for white tuna

* Asian catfish, ponga, tilapia, hake for grouper

* Tile fish for grouper/halibut/red snapper

* Tilapia for catfish

* Langostino, which is shrimp or crab for lobster

[ghshephard]

If it's difficult to tell exactly what fish you are being served, then it probably doesn't matter what fish you are being served.

[nicobn]

It certainly does matter.

In terms of texture and taste, white tuna may very well be indistinguishable from escolar for a lot of people. It's still much less desirable than white tuna. Japan has banned escolar in 1977, deeming it toxic.

[ghshephard]

Now we're discussing toxicity. I 100% agree that health standards need to be maintained.

[dgacmu]

Oh, yes. Yes indeed. Escolar is quite tasty - I've had it deliberately - but the gastrointestinal side effects can be very nasty. You don't want to go there when you think you're just eating tuna. This is a very underhanded substitution for a supplier or restaurant to make.

[ghshephard]

Clearly there is a difference if the other fish has negative effects.

[cmdrfred]

A warm glass of milk and a warm glass of milk with ejaculate in it, can you tell the difference? Does it matter?

[ghshephard]

We were talking fish. Now you are talking about noxious adulterants to milk.

[chris_7]

Getting an Asian-farmed tilapia instead of a US-farmed catfish would not be good.

[ghshephard]

Why is that?

[SilasX]

>91% of seafood consumed in the United States is imported, and half of it is farmed. Yet only one-thousandth of 1 percent of imports are inspected for fraud.

That shouldn't, by itself, be a problem, right? Any importation is a big deal that requires a license and someone putting their name down as having responsibility for it.

Even with low inspection, as soon as you find the fraud, you fine that importer and cut them off until they have their act together, right? Why doesn't that work as an incentive to prevent blatant abuses?

[happyslobro]

Names are cheap. If you need to buy them in bulk as a commodity, that can be arranged.

I was lucky to work in the tame minority of the fishing industry, but we sure heard our fair share of horror stories from the boats registered out of the Philippines and Thailand. Not sure what percentage was true, but the common theme is: humans and their names and families are cheap, if the buyer isn't racist.

[SilasX]

Doesn't importation require a licensed citizen on the receiving side too though, which the government already has in a database? Those names can't be cheap.

[ZoF]

by* itself (consider me triggered)

Agreed, I'd expect it to work that way as well.

[jghn]

My favorite Kobe lie is "kobe sliders" and "kobe hot dog", particularly when they're priced more or less normally, say < $20.

There's a 0% chance there's a single gram of Kobe beef in those.

[wyager]

> Yet only one-thousandth of 1 percent of imports are inspected for fraud.

Yes, and? That's how statistical analysis works. You don't sample every single member of the population, as it would be infeasibly expensive. You can get almost as good results for a small fraction of the cost (through random sampling).

[kwhitefoot]

But when you do find a dud in inspection of say a batch of resistors for television production you reject the entire batch or shipment; you don't ask the supplier politely if they might consider taking it back. In an import context that could mean anything from a single case to a 40ft container or even a whole shipload in the case of fish. That seems to be a big part of the problem; in food inspections the inspectors don't have the same degree of power and authority as quality control inspectors in a factory (well at least in well run factories).

[thaumasiotes]

> I don't think it's a coincidence that these fake food articles—truffle oil, olive oil, seafood—are springing up after Larry Olmsted recently published Real Food/Fake Food: Why You Don’t Know What You’re Eating and What You Can Do about It.

If he really did publish recently, it can hardly be anything else; the olive oil and seafood results are many years old. They are more likely to have inspired him to write the book than the other way around.

[gutnor]

> Kobe beef

Ah ! That explains how you can find kobe beef burger on a motor way dinner chain in Spain for the same price than a regular "gourmet" burger.

[bambax]

If you buy your seafood whole you avoid a lot of frauds; you can't buy a whole cow but you can absolutely buy a whole fish or pieces of salmon cut in front of you. I would not buy seafood any other way (and I'm not sure I ever have -- seafood doesn't stay fresh for a long time, it feels quite dangerous to buy packaged in a supermarket).

[protomyth]

Why would you think you cannot buy a whole cow? A large freezer or friends ordering at the same time solves this problem.

[bambax]

Where would you buy it? Unlike fish where the prep is done in front of you, a cow has to be prepped before you even see it, very soon after it dies (or it will explode). And it weights 400 kg.

Or maybe you want to buy it when it's still alive? At least you can walk it back to your place. But good luck dealing with the killing and the blood.

Sometimes you can buy whole parts of game (a leg or a shoulder maybe) but that's about it! ;-)

[protomyth]

We call up the rancher / farmer and buy the whole cow then a custom slaughter house / butcher get it and cuts it up. You probably want it hung for 30 days in cold storage. People do this, a co-worker goes out to Montana each year. Some grocery stores in the area do this, it's cheaper than buying the individual pieces.

[tqwcs]

You can buy a cow and have someone kill it and butcher it. I've known people that have done this.