The Most Adulterated Food Products: Olive Oil, Milk, Honey And More

The April issue of the Journal of Food Science analyzes the most adulterated ingredients -- in other words, the most common instances of food fraud. Food fraud, defined in a report commissioned by the Department of Homeland Security, is a "collective term that encompasses the deliberate substitution, addition, tampering or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or food packaging, or false or misleading statements made about a product for economic gain."

Though not all the contaminants are necessarily harmful (i.e. grapefruit juice), they are not listed on the ingredients list of given foods, nor are they supposed to be in the product. Adulterants are used to cut corners and save money, and in the process contaminate the food. In short, using grapefruit juice in a carton that contains 100% orange juice is misleading, and illegal.

The Journal of Food Science research focuses on the database FoodFraud.org, which contains 1,054 records of scholarly research and 251 media reports.

Check out the 7 most adulterated ingredients:

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• Olive Oil

  It's a bit disturbing to think about that a lot of the extra virgin olive oil you consume is contaminated with deodorants and other, non-olive oils. Tom Mueller's book, "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-mueller/fake-olive-oil_b_1174428.html" target="_hplink">Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil</a>," tackles this issue. The Food Fraud Database lists adulterants such as corn oil, hazelnut oil and palm oil. <em>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/celticsu/3102164381/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr user:Suzi Rosenberg</a></em>

• Milk

  After all the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/26/china-tainted-milk_n_1169896.html" target="_hplink">tainted milk scares in China</a>, it's no surprise that milk is at the top of the food fraud list. Adulterants include whey, bovine milk protein, melamine and cane sugar. <em>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/markhillary/829573216/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr user: markhillary</a></em>

• Honey

  One third of honey in the U.S. is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/17/honey-tainted_n_929517.html" target="_hplink">potentially tainted</a>. That means high-fructose corn syrup, glucose, fructose and more. <em>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sionakaren/3870732249/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr user: Siona Karen</a></em>

• Saffron

  Perhaps it's no surprise that saffron is often adulterated, given that it is the most expensive spice in the world. The Food Fraud Database lists sandlewood dust, starch, yellow dye and gelatin threads as some of the contaminants. <em>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackson3/3770492248/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr user: Steven Jackson Photography</a></em>

• Orange Juice

  Orange juice has been in the news a lot lately after the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/11/orange-juice-imports-fda-fungicide-_n_1200305.html" target="_hplink">fungicide scare</a>. Fungicide might be the tip of the iceberg though -- apparently it can also contain grapefruit juice, marigold flower extract, corn sugar and paprika extract. <em>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sfllaw/335982719/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr user: sfllaw</a></em>

• Coffee

  How do you take your coffee? We're guessing probably without chicory, roasted corn, caramel, malt, glucose, leguminous plants and maltodextrins. <em>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dyobmit/18588671/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr user: dyobmit</a></em>

• Apple Juice

  Once we learned that there might be <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/01/arsenic-apple-juice_n_1122979.html" target="_hplink">arsenic in apple juice</a>, we realized that no food ingredient is safe. Although the arsenic might have been blown out of proportion, there are several other common contaminants in everyone's favorite juice box. These include: high-fructose corn syrup, raisin sweetener and synthetic malic acid. <em>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/garryknight/5761086703/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr user: garryknight</a></em>

Comments

[Vicki Cupper]

10:54 AM on 04/17/2012

*Except. Jeez, I'm not a Fox "News" viewer. It's so early.

[Vicki Cupper]

10:53 AM on 04/17/2012

I heard that one way to check saffron is that if the tips are yellow, it's authentic.

I don't trust any markets accept Trader Joe's now.

[captainspirou]

03:48 PM on 04/10/2012

Chicory in coffee is fine as long as they let you know it's in there.

[Rachel Crockett]

11:10 AM on 04/11/2012

I actually only buy coffee with chicory in it. lol!

[Shay Zaidenberg]

11:01 AM on 04/10/2012

http://blogs.usda.gov/2012/04/03/quality-monitoring-program-expands-to-olive-oil/ Pompeian Inc Volunteered to be the first to participate in USDA's Quality Monitoring Program for Olive Oil

[avon96734]

05:56 PM on 05/18/2012

Interesting, since another one of these olive oil articles listed Pompeian olive oil as the best tasting, according to taste testers. I guess I'm going back to Pompeian. I've been buying the giant Bertoli at Costco, but it doesn't have much flavor. Now I'm guessing it's b/c it's not pure olive oil. I guess the good price wasn't so good, after all.

[shortguy54]

09:39 AM on 04/10/2012

Funny how those who complain about "big government" never think about the food inspectors!

[TheIpsoFactory]

06:15 AM on 04/10/2012

You know, food fakers are people, too.

[scottsdalebubbe]

02:19 AM on 04/10/2012

The article would have been more helpful if brands had been named.

[avon96734]

06:01 PM on 05/18/2012

None of these studies ever named brands (I believe this business about adulterated olive oil has been reported several times over the past decade or so). I'm sure they're worried about lawsuits, even if all they're doing is outing the fraudsters!

[bobritchie117]

03:38 PM on 04/09/2012

Grapefruit juice is a VERY important item to be known if it is in one's orange juice-has anyone ever looked at their prescription for Xanax (alprazolam) or Valium (diazepam)?????? They both specify NOT to ingest grapefruit juice at any time while on these medications!!!!

[plantbasedpunk]

01:19 PM on 04/09/2012

You get what you pay for, IMO. If you want to save a few bucks and get a garbage ingredient, then OK. Enjoy your garbage. But if you want quality, you're going to have to pay. And that's OK. When you buy a nice bottle of olive oil think of it as investing in a small business. Investing in the future. But of course, if you want to throw your dollars at a some corporate plastic machine then by all means go for it.

[g2services]

12:46 PM on 04/09/2012

As a consultant to the orange juice industry if you want pure juice I would strongly recommend buying NFC, not from concentrate, orange juice produced in Florida. Tthere is continuous onsite inspection in Florida unlike anywhere else in the world. There are no marigold tanks, sugar tanks, or paprika tanks in the NFC process. Nobody in their right mind would add grapefruit juice to orange juice. All bets are off for juice produced elsewhere. The inspectors come by once per year in most foreign countries and it is more of a social visit. For the best juice squeeze some oranges in your kitchen.

[GraphicMatt]

02:02 PM on 04/09/2012

Florida's Natural is the only OJ I will drink......well, other than fresh squeezed.

[g2services]

02:17 PM on 04/09/2012

Florida's Natural is really owned by a cooperative of Florida grove owners so you can trust that their juice is pure Florida. The best juice, IMO, is Indian River Select.

[Bella D Oliva US]

11:33 AM on 04/09/2012

Another example of why we are on the mission

[adamben]

12:12 PM on 04/09/2012

to expose olive oil malfeasants? if so, who are the offenders?

[bi-partizan]

09:25 AM on 04/09/2012

GREED..one of the most interesting words in English. Real first press olive oil comes from original home base operators. Italians, Turks, Arabs pay attention to that. Smel is different,oil factor is different, color is different and if you leave it in fridge over 8-10 hours it will become like paste. Before you buy anything check it out. as an example; If it is made in Germany it does not mean manufacturers standards are better then ours. My suggestion to you all is when you buy a virgin olive oil; that oil must smell like real olives, when place a litlle bit on the bread it should stay on top of the bread a bit longer and it should leave full olive taste in your mouth when you eat it.

Use Virgin oil for salads and cold dishes
Use second squeeze for cooking. Usually called "RIVIERA"
try to avoid third or last squeeze...check it it out it has a name in Google in Spanish and there was awarning issued few years ago about it in some newspapers.
BUY the olive oil with ISO or TSE stamps on the bottle
Real olive oil is full of health for humans. But GREED, yes GREED places a a"be careful" stamp on it.

HONOUR in business, pride in your product, Quality of your product were the most important issues...what is happening FDA, what is happening big olive oil traders, or traders, What is happening people?

[Bread n Circus]

09:29 AM on 04/09/2012

If it don't make dollars, it don't make sense.

[bi-partizan]

09:29 PM on 04/09/2012

wll you trick your family for few dollars profit?

[Pema]

10:22 AM on 04/09/2012

excellent post! ty for the info.

[victorzeller]

08:53 AM on 04/09/2012

It is all about greed, profits and money. If a manufacturer can get away with adding just a little something to their products, thus reducing the real ingredients they can make millions of dollars.
Many years ago an airline took out the olive in the salad they served and it saved them $600,000 a year.
When you add junk to your products it just proves how greedy the companies are.

[bi-partizan]

09:40 PM on 04/09/2012

Your goodself and I see the things similarly. As you know you can not bring any car who has a rep in USA from Europe or wherever. and there are standards that foreign car must fulfill in USA. Why don't we do the same for food products? Which will create jobs as well...Wouldn't you agree?
Plus as an added benefit ..the misreable group who mixes water to MILK, cheap sunflower oil to Olive Oil, and so on will be forced to correct themselves...By the way people if you buy olive oil you can add fresh herbs and garlic thus protect yourself from very large charges on price tags that the retailers ask for a 6 oz. bottle. Respectfully as always.

[rennycat]

05:32 PM on 04/10/2012

Do you know if organic olive oil is a pure olive oil? I buy only organic, but now I'm wondering if the corporate masters mess with this too for profits. Any thoughts on this?

[keedyk87]

08:26 AM on 04/09/2012

Didn't I once hear that the Food and Drug Administration was created to protect the American Public from such schemes and deceptive practices? Why is it then that they feel that Protecting Corporate PROFITS should now take presidence over their stated reason for being created? Profits before the People is what the Economic Oligarcy say!

[Bread n Circus]

09:08 AM on 04/09/2012

The FDA is a joke. This agency is filled with revolving-door, big business sh1lls. Take the current Deputy Commissioner for Foods (Food safety czar) Michael R Taylor. He is a lobbyist/lawyer who has spent the last few decades moving between Monsanto and the FDA and USDA.

Or how about Margaret Miller? Miller was a former employee of Monsanto who, during the course of her employment, was responsible for coordinating animal safety studies regarding rBGH. In 1989 she left her job at Monsanto and went directly to the FDA where she was promoted to the position of director of the toxicology and environmental sciences division. This was the division that was directly responsible for the technical review of the safety of rBGH.

So her first job at the FDA was to approve the paper she wrote at Monsanto. Essentially Monsanto approved it's own studies.

What a sham!

[ROYBOY52]

07:56 AM on 04/09/2012

Bovine milk protein in milk? I would be pissed if there wasn't any Bovine milk protein in milk. Maybe the HUFFPO "journalist" doesn't know that Bovine means cow. If cow's milk DOESN"T have any protein in it, then it's adulterated.

[GraphicMatt]

02:03 PM on 04/09/2012

Whey is a milk product as well. They listed that up there too.