Fake foods are making consumers uneasy

Many types of food used in daily meals are being counterfeited in a sophisticated way, causing insecurity for consumers.

1. Dried squid made from rubber

In most provinces and cities across the country, fake dried squid made from rubber has appeared and has been investigated by authorities, warning people.

Dried squid suspected to be made from rubber, priced from 140,000 to 200,000 VND/kg.

The characteristic of this type of squid is that it has a strange shape, when burned it has a burning smell like burnt rubber, the tentacles and tail of the squid clearly show cuts. With shredded squid products that are marinated, when soaked in water, the squid fibers will expand, becoming a shiny, shiny rubber fiber. The price of this type of fake squid is only from 140,000 to 200,000 VND/kg, while the price of dried squid sold on the market ranges from 450,000 to 700,000 VND/kg.

2. Strange ink

Recently, at some markets in Sa Dec City, Dong Thap, there has appeared a type of fresh squid at a very cheap price and a type of dried squid with a strange shape.

According to some retailers, this type of squid of unknown origin is often packed in bales, with a line of Chinese characters in the middle of the bale. Each bale weighs about 10kg and is stored in the freezer. The selling price is only from 43,000 to 44,000 VND/kg.

Cheap strange squid in Sa Dec city, Dong Thap.

This type of squid is gray, not as rosy as the types of squid commonly sold in markets and is not crispy. The ink sac is very long and has yellow lumps, it will float in water and is not white. In addition, in the area there is also a type of dried squid with a strange shape, sold by street vendors.

Through observation with the naked eye, this type of squid is much thicker than normal squid. When grilled over fire, the squid body remains straight and has a dark red or pale white color. When eaten, it is not sweet or fragrant. The selling price of this type of dried squid of unknown origin is only half the price of normal dried squid.

3. Fake eggs

The fake eggs look exactly the same as industrial eggs to the naked eye. The only difference is that the suspected fake eggs are slightly larger than Vietnamese industrial eggs.

Fake eggs.

According to poultry experts, if you carefully observe the structure of a real egg, you can distinguish between real and fake. A real eggshell consists of 3 layers, the outermost layer is called mucus, which feels powdery to the touch. The hard middle layer has up to 76,000 air holes (forming tiny particles). The innermost layer consists of 2 thin membranes, which come together to form a steam chamber at one end of the egg (when boiled, the egg is missing at one end).

Real egg whites also consist of 4 layers of albumin arranged in the following order: liquid - harder - liquid - harder. When acid is added (the simplest is lemon), the albumin will clump. Real egg yolks are covered by a thin membrane with a ligament system connecting to the white to fix the yolk. On the yolk there is a white dot called the embryo.

Fake eggs made from chemicals will not have the above characteristics.

With the chemical ingredients that are speculated to be used to fake eggs such as borax, paraffin, acid, plastic, alum... food safety experts say that eating a lot of fake eggs can lead to fatal poisoning, because these chemicals are all banned from use in food.

4. Pig ears made from plastic and gelatin

In mid-2013, Chinese media shocked many people when they reported that residents of Ganzhou city, Jiangxi province, discovered artificial pig ears suspected to be made from plastic and gelatin.

Artificial pig ears suspected to be made from plastic and gelatin.

According to the people's reflection, this pig ear is not normal, not only does it have a bad chemical smell but it also tears as soon as it is torn. Then the authorities got involved and discovered a specialized area for processing fake pig ears. The investigators said that the skin of the fake pig ears has no blood vessels or cartilage, it smells very bad, can be punctured with a hard object, does not have the toughness of real pig ears, and can even be easily torn by hand.

5. Beef ribs made from flour

In late 2013, on the social network Facebook, there was a rumor that the product "spicy beef ribs" produced by Sa Sa Company Limited was not made from the ingredients advertised on the packaging, but from fruit-wrapping foam, causing parents to be extremely confused.

Made mainly from flour and flavoring, when soaked in water, the "beef" is pale.

Through verification by the authorities, the packages of spicy beef ribs priced at only 2,000 to 3,000 VND, widely sold at stalls around the school gate, are actually made mainly from... flour and flavorings. This production facility has committed many violations of food safety, many product packages with packaging labeled "spicy beef ribs", "premium beef ribs", "delicious oxtail"... have been confiscated.

6. Shark fin

The process of making fake shark fins from toxic chemicals has been exposed, shocking Chinese consumers.

According to an investigation by a reporter from China Central Television, fake shark fins are made from gelatin, sodium alginate, and colorants and have no nutritional value. The fake shark fins do not dissolve even when soaked in water and do not break when stretched. The substances used to make fake shark fins, when cooked at temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius, decompose into acids that combine with fats to form trichloroacetone. Trichloroacetone affects the liver, kidneys, and reproductive organs.

Some counterfeit shark fin products sold on the market cost less than 10 yuan (about 330,000 VND).

In addition to the sophisticated shark fin counterfeiting tricks above, in China, traders also make fake shark fins from rubber.

According to Zing.vn