Key Points
Shoppers should care about food fraud because it costs billions each year and means paying more for lower-quality, mislabeled products.Olive oil, honey, and seafood are among the most commonly faked foods, often mixed with cheaper ingredients or mislabeled to appear premium.To avoid buying fake foods, look for clear labels, trusted producers, and third-party certifications that verify authenticity.
When you grab a bottle of maple syrup, olive oil, or honey off the grocery shelf, you assume you’re getting exactly that. But it isn’t always the case. Food fraud, when a valuable ingredient is deliberately left out, swapped, or altered, or when a food is intentionally mislabeled, is far more common than most shoppers realize.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, some of the most popular ingredients in our kitchens are the ones most likely to be faked. There are various reasons for this fraud: global supply chains, inflation, and limited transparency make it easy for bad actors to cut corners. While most cases don’t pose health risks, counterfeit foods do mean you’re paying premium prices for lesser products. The FDA reports that food fraud affects one percent of the global food industry, and this costs as much as $40 billion annually.
Here are the foods most often faked, along with expert-backed tips to help you buy the real thing. Food fraud may not make you sick, but it can affect the quality of the meals you make, undermine consumer trust, and hurt legitimate producers.
Bryan Quoc Le, Ph.D., food scientist, food consultant, and author of 150 Food Science Questions Answered
Carla Marina Marchese, a Connecticut-based beekeeper and honey sommelier with The American Honey Tasting Society, and author of four books on honey
Honey
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Honey is frequently mislabeled, and that, in part, is because terms like local, pure, and natural are marketing terms that aren’t regulated.
Also, “Anyone can say a honey is raw, but really raw honey means unheated,” explains Carla Marina Marchese, a Connecticut-based beekeeper and honey sommelier with The American Honey Tasting Society and author of four books on honey. Honey can also be mixed with cheaper sweeteners such as corn syrup.
How to avoid it: Look for honey that has the beekeeper’s name on it and the town and state where the honey was produced, then look at the ingredients if they’ve added anything to the honey; the ingredients will reflect that, and finally look at the price, says Marchese.
Olive Oil
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If ever there was a poster child for food fraud, it would be olive oil. “Foods that are expensive, easy to dilute, and hard for average shoppers to verify are targets,” says Bryan Quoc Le, Ph.D., food scientist, food consultant, and author of 150 Food Science Questions Answered. He explains that olive oil can be mixed with cheaper oils.
How to avoid it: Look for third-party certifications, such as those from the California Olive Oil Council or the North American Olive Oil Association. And buying from reputable brands or local producers can help ensure you’re getting the real thing.
Seafood
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Fish mislabeling is rampant, says Le. “Some fish fillets are often swapped for look-alikes because once it’s cut and cooked, people can’t tell the difference,” he explains.
For instance, yellowtail is sometimes swapped for mahi-mahi or Alaskan pollock sold as cod, according to the FDA. Another way fish is faked is that sometimes ice is added to frozen seafood to make it heavier before selling it by weight.
How to avoid it: Buy from a trusted fishmonger who can tell you when and where the fish was caught. If you buy packaged fish, look for the country of origin and harvest method on the label, says Le.
Coffee
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Coffee might seem surprising to fake, but Le says it also has a history of alteration. Not beans, generally ground coffee, where other foods such as cereals, corn, and chicory can be ground into it to bulk it up.
How to avoid it: Buy whole beans and grind them at home. Also, look for the harvest date and country of origin on the label. Single-origin beans make fraud less likely.
Spices
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Spices, especially vanilla and saffron, have a long history of being diluted or, as in the case of vanilla, made into knockoffs, says Le.
How to avoid it: For high-value spices like vanilla or saffron, always read the label and the ingredients carefully. If you can, purchase them from trusted brands and specialty retailers.
Parmesan Cheese
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Real Parmesan, or Parmigiano Reggiano, is one of the world’s great cheeses and one of the most counterfeited cheeses in the world, according to the producer group Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium. “Real Parmigiano-Reggiano is pricey, so knockoffs or ‘imitation’ versions sneak into supply,” says Le.
How to avoid it: Know what you are shopping for: In the U.S., just because it’s labeled Parmesan does not mean it is Parmigiano Reggiano. Real Parmigiano Reggiano is made from only three ingredients: milk, salt, and rennet, and is clearly labeled. Check those ingredient labels, and if the cheese is not from Italy, it’s not Parmigiano Reggiano. And sorry, but if it’s pre-shredded, chances are it’s not the real deal.
100 Percent Fruit Juices
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Yes fruit juices! These are sometimes cut with cheaper concentrates or artificial flavorings, yet still labeled “100 percent juice.”
How to avoid it: Check the ingredient list before you buy. “From concentrate” means it’s been reconstituted. Fresh, refrigerated juices from local sources are less likely to be faked.
Maple Syrup
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Maple syrup is another popular, pricey, and easy food to fake. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of syrup so cheaters will adulterate or fake it. According to the FDA, much like honey, some producers will mix real syrup with cane sugar, corn syrup, and other cheaper sweeteners.
How to avoid it: Be careful of anything that says ‘maple-flavored,’ which means it’s not 100-percent maple. Read the label and look for how it is graded—all maple syrup is grade A, but there are four different categories of grade A: Golden Color, Delicate Taste; Amber Color, Rich Taste; Dark Color, Robust Taste; and Very Dark Color, Strong Taste. The surest route to pure maple syrup is to buy directly from regional producers.
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