Food fraud: is your oregano authentic?
New Which? tests find different leaves substituted.
What’s in your herb jars? You'd like think the label was telling the truth but a test of 78 'dried oregano' samples by Which? revealed that 19 contained other different leaves.
The most common additions were olive and myrtle leaves.
‘Oregano’ or ‘orega-no’?
The non-oregano additions were found to make up between 30% and 70% of the adulterated products, which were bought from a range of shops in the UK and Ireland.
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said that it was “impossible for any shopper to tell, without the help of scientists, what herbs they’re actually buying” and called on retailers, producers and enforcement officers to step up checks to stamp out food fraud.
At surface level, with diced, dried herbs, you’d never be able to tell for sure if the oregano was bulked out with other leaves.
The Which? investigation distinguished compounds by identifying their atomic composition – not something most of us could easily do. The tests were conducted by Professor Christopher Elliott, Director of the Insitute for Global Food Security.
Professor Elliott also authored the report on the horsemeat scandal, and commented that “clearly we have identified a major problem and it may well reflect issues with other herbs and spices that enter the British Isles through complex supply chains.”
He went on to suggest that “much better controls are needed to protect the consumer from purchasing heavily contaminated products.”
The ongoing issue of food fraud
Which? is currently campaigning for stronger Government action on food fraud, having found that 40% of lamb takeaways it tested last year contained non-lamb meat and one in six fish ordered from chip shops were not what had been ordered.
With the horsemeat scandal still in the minds of many, this latest discovery of food fraud is yet another blow to trust in the food chain.
Have you lost faith in food suppliers over the past few years? Who do you still trust? Let us know in the Comments below.
You might also like:
The loveFOOD guide to... spice blends
Comments
Be the first to comment
Do you want to comment on this article? You need to be signed in for this feature