Think counterfeiting only extends to that knock-off name-brand purse or
those slightly irregular DVDs you bought on the street? Think again.
Everything is fair game to counterfeiters these days, from music to
computer equipment to car parts.
But perhaps most frightening: The food you eat and the beverages you drink might not be the real thing.
While all counterfeiting is problematic, counterfeit food and beverages are especially tricky. The inherent health and safety risks are higher than those associated with, say, a knockoff pair of sunglasses, and they're also harder to detect once they've made their way onto store shelves. And unlike a fake purse whose handle falls off after you buy it, fake foods can hurt more than your wallet.
But perhaps most frightening: The food you eat and the beverages you drink might not be the real thing.
While all counterfeiting is problematic, counterfeit food and beverages are especially tricky. The inherent health and safety risks are higher than those associated with, say, a knockoff pair of sunglasses, and they're also harder to detect once they've made their way onto store shelves. And unlike a fake purse whose handle falls off after you buy it, fake foods can hurt more than your wallet.
A Fish by Any Other Name
But beyond mere mislabeling is a more insidious type of food fraud:
creating inferior products meant to pass as brand-name goods.With advances in technology, a localized market and the constant push for value pricing, it's not always easy to tell what's real and what's fake.
Charges of mislabeling items to increase the sales prices aren't new.
Only last year, large retailers were targeted in a lawsuit that claimed
the products they were selling as organic weren't. Tamara Ward of the
Food and Drug Administration says that counterfeit food cases can occur
when consumers can't easily tell one item from another (as is often the
case with certain varieties of fish), or are unable to distinguish by
taste the differences among types of certain foods (such as extra virgin
olive oil or raw honey).
Looks Can Be Very Deceiving
With advances in technology, it's becoming markedly more difficult to
determine a counterfeit label from a real one, even in the face of
anti-counterfeit security devices like holograms or tax labels.
Well-designed packaging (even creating fake "brands") also helps these
goods gain traction, enabling them to blend well on store shelves
because they don't stand out next to their legitimate peers.
Counterfeiters will make most of their upfront investment in label-making equipment, and less investment in the inferior ingredients going into the food items. Simply put, the more they spend on the outside, the less they'll spend on the inside.
"In most cases, food fraud, or 'economically motivated adulteration,' is a pocketbook issue," Ward says, "but when ingredients are illegally substituted for what is on the label, consumers may be affected by unsuspected allergens or, in the worst case scenario, by toxic contaminants such as melamine."
Counterfeiters will make most of their upfront investment in label-making equipment, and less investment in the inferior ingredients going into the food items. Simply put, the more they spend on the outside, the less they'll spend on the inside.
"In most cases, food fraud, or 'economically motivated adulteration,' is a pocketbook issue," Ward says, "but when ingredients are illegally substituted for what is on the label, consumers may be affected by unsuspected allergens or, in the worst case scenario, by toxic contaminants such as melamine."
So scan your shopping cart with skepticism. While it may be nearly
impossible to tell a fake from the real thing, the same rule of avoiding
counterfeit purses applies: Use common sense, don't buy an item with a
label that has spelling errors or misprinted labels, and be wary of
prices that seem too low.
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