7 Imitation Foods You Should Eat And 7 To Avoid Completely

You probably expect food product labels to be honest up-front and describe exactly what you are buying at the grocery store. In reality, your favorite foods may not be what they seem. The fact is that fraud affects the food industry at an estimated cost of up to $40 billion per year, according to the FDA. Mislabeling, counterfeit products, and making substitutions with inferior ingredients all contribute to foods that we think are the real deal, but are actually much lower quality and potentially harmful to our health.

That said, not all fake foods are trying to pull the wool over shoppers' eyes. There are a variety of imitation foods that proudly display their true natures on the product labels, many of which are worth the purchase. If you still cannot spot the fake, a quick scan of the ingredients list can reveal a lot about a product. Learn which imitation foods are worth keeping around your kitchen and how to weed out food frauds. This list assesses imitation foods based on nutrition, price, honesty in the market, and comparison to authentic products.

Seafood fraud is a major issue in the food industry. Seafood species are often mislabeled in order to sell cheaper, lower-quality fish for a higher market price. Overfishing is a problem worldwide; 84% of the seafood eaten in the U.S. is imported, only 2% of which is inspected by the FDA, notes Oceana. This leaves many shoppers overpaying for cheap seafood disguised as something of higher quality.

Seafood mislabeling occurs often for fish varieties like red snapper and Atlantic cod. In fact, grouper can be a red flag if the price seems too good to be true. Grouper is often swapped out for pangasius, a fish that is cheaper to feed and easier to produce in large amounts than grouper. Salmon has also been a victim of seafood fraud. Farm-raised salmon is often mislabeled as wild-caught, sometimes rainbow trout is sold as salmon, and cheaper varieties of salmon are frequently sold as expensive king salmon.

It can be tricky to spot the fake in the seafood department. A good place to start is by researching what the seafood you are purchasing looks like. Farm-raised salmon has more visible white lines of fat while wild-caught salmon has little fat and is a more vibrant orange color. The selling price is also a good giveaway. While a cheaper price might seem like a good deal, understanding the typical price of seafood could help you get what you are paying for.

A tall stack of pancakes is not complete without a hearty drizzle of sweet maple syrup. There are many maple syrup imitators out there, but it is fairly easy to weed out the fakers with a few key tricks. Reading the label is one of the best ways to tell if a bottle of maple syrup is real. Real maple syrup will list pure maple syrup as the only ingredient and the imitator will have many ingredients listed, but never maple syrup. The fake stuff is primarily made from corn syrup with artificial maple flavoring and caramel color. Imitation syrup will also be typically labeled as "pancake syrup," while the real syrup has "maple syrup" proudly printed on the front of the bottle.

Real maple syrup tends to be much more expensive than imitation syrup, but the higher price tag is worth it. Maple syrup has a much more concentrated maple flavor and is runny when poured out of the bottle. Pancake syrup is thicker and tastes more like concentrated sugar. The next time you need a pancake topper, spending a few extra dollars on real maple syrup will take your breakfast up a notch.

A dollop of whipped cream is the perfect topping for an ice cream sundae, a slice of pie, or a steaming mug of hot chocolate. Unfortunately, not all grocery store whipped cream varieties are made with the same ingredients. There are significant differences in ingredients between a can of whipped cream and a tub of whipped topping, even though they seem similar. If you read the label on the container, you will find that whipped topping like Cool Whip has a lot more unnecessary additives than whipped cream. It contains ingredients like hydrogenated vegetable oil and high-fructose corn syrup — two components that contribute to a variety of health issues — along with preservatives and artificial flavors and colors.

A can of whipped cream is budget-friendly and convenient for topping off a dessert, but homemade whipped cream tastes great and is easy to make. Mix cream and sugar together in a bowl with an electric mixer for five minutes until soft peaks form and the whipped cream is light, airy, and fluffy. Store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use the whipped cream.

You may want to think twice before buying pre-grated Parmesan cheese powder. Even though pre-grated parmesan is convenient for dressing up your spaghetti in a flash, you should consider swapping out the jarred cheese for the real thing. One glance over the ingredients label reveals that Parmesan powder contains a lot more than just cheese. To keep jarred Parmesan fresh on the shelf, anti-caking agents are added to help keep the powder from hardening into clumps. One example is cellulose, also known as powdered wood pulp.

Real Parmesan cheese is highly regulated in Italy. The real stuff can only be made in Parma, Modena, Bologna, Mantua, or Reggio Emilia and goes through specific production and aging processes. It is made with only three ingredients: milk, salt, and rennet, an enzyme used in cheese making. A block of Parmesan may be a little more pricey and require grating, but it is worth the extra effort to know exactly what you are eating.

Blueberries are a superfood. Chock full of nutrients, this mighty little berry is full of antioxidants, and vitamins, and helps keep you hydrated. Unfortunately, the blueberries in mass-produced baking mixes are exactly the opposite. Your favorite boxed blueberry muffin mix probably does not even have actual blueberries in it. Like with most other imitation foods, reading the packaging label can be a major giveaway in finding the fake. Many boxed baking mixes, oatmeal with fruit in the packet, and snack bars have little more than just bits of sugar, corn syrup, and food coloring to simulate the appearance of blueberries.

The lack of health benefits and added sugar are just some of the reasons why you should not buy blueberry-flavored foods. Instead, mix fresh or frozen blueberries into baking batters to take in all the fruit's health benefits and add a more authentic blueberry flavor to your dishes. Bake delicious muffins with juicy blueberries or cook up fruit-filled pancakes to pack in some superfruit flavor.

Surprisingly, the honey in your pantry may not come from busy bees at all. Real honey comes from honeybees, which produce honey that is then harvested from beehives, packaged into jars, and sold at retail. In the 1990s, the popularity of honey in America grew, and prices increased with demand. To keep up with the market need, manufacturers began cutting back on the actual honey and mixed in additives and fillers like corn, rice, and beet syrup. All of the added ingredients dilute the honey, taking out all the health benefits that come with the real stuff.

A quick scan of the package label can ensure you do not mistake fake honey for real honey. Purchase local honey with a label that reads "Trust Source Certified," "real," "100%," "raw," or "natural" on the packaging. Anything that reads "honey product" or blatantly calls itself an imitator on the bottle is likely not the real deal.

Olive oil is perfect for cooking, with plenty of heart-healthy benefits. Extra-virgin olive oil is particularly great to keep in stock; this variety is not treated with chemicals, giving the oil a richer flavor. Because of its popularity, olive oil has become a victim of food fraud in order to meet the demand. Many bottles at retail have a high-end look to the label but are actually frauds. Virgin olive oils are often marketed as being extra-virgin, and these oils are typically blends of olive oil and a variety of other vegetable oils like corn and sunflower oil.

There are a few tips for buying olive oil and weeding out the fakes. The label can give away a lot of information; look for certifications and seals of authenticity on the packaging from respected culinary organizations. Costco's extra-virgin olive oil proudly displays a seal from the Bureau Veritas on the bottle, so you know it is the real deal. Checking the olive harvest date on the bottle can help you determine exactly what you are buying. A more recent date means fresher and more flavorful olive oil.