The Science of Spotting Fake Foods – Speaking of Chemistry

Food fraud often boils down to politics or semantics. Something labeled parmesan cheese may not come from Parma, for instance. But sometimes food producers try to feed us cheap fillers and other lies. In this episode of Speaking of Chemistry, Sophia Cai explains how scientists, regulators, and food makers are relying on chemistry to make sure consumers get what they pay for.

Want to learn even more about fighting food fraud? Check out these great resources.

Parmesan test can detect cheesy imposters | C&EN
http://cen.acs.org/articles/94/web/2016/05/Parmesan-test-detect-cheesy-imposters.html

Autheticating Food | C&EN
http://cen.acs.org/articles/87/i5/Authenticating-Food.html

Food Safety Gambit | C&EN
http://cen.acs.org/articles/88/i19/Food-Safety-Gambit.html

The Parmesan Cheese You Sprinkle on Your Penne Could Be Wood |Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-16/the-parmesan-cheese-you-sprinkle-on-your-penne-could-be-wood

Guilty pleas filed in federal criminal fake cheese cases | Food Safety News
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2016/02/guilty-pleas-filed-in-federal-criminal-fake-cheese-cases/#.V4ap-OsrJpg

FDA warning letter to Castle Cheese, Inc. | FDA
http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2013/ucm363201.htm

The EU tries to grab all the cheese | Politico
http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2016/06/european-union-trade-cheese-geographical-indicators-000141

Parmesan and Gouda May Shred a New US Trade Agreement With Europe | Vice News
https://news.vice.com/article/us-trade-agreement-with-europe-may-get-torpedoed-by-cheese-names-privacy-rules

Testing for Food Contamination | Biocompare
http://www.biocompare.com/Editorial-Articles/170251-Testing-for-Food-Contamination/

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