In a world driven by evil marketing geniuses, it’s hard to know what’s reality and what’s just clever branding. As consumers, we’re susceptible to all kinds of white lies—especially when it comes to the food we eat.
Most of the time, these fibs are harmless. Still, when you hit the grocery store, knowledge is power. So let’s explore some of the food industry’s most successful scams. They might make you think twice about the products you put in your cart.
Takeout staff writer Angela Pagán reported on Big Cheese’s biggest secret: the fact that white cheddar tastes exactly the same as orange cheddar. The only difference between the two? Orange cheddar features added coloring. Despite the fact that white and orange cheddar are spiritually the exact same cheese, plenty of brands use white cheddar’s perceived “purity” to their advantage. Pagán cites Cheetos, which features white cheddar as one of the flavors in its “Simply” product line. This suggests that white cheddar is inherently healthier than orange cheddar—although, as Pagán points out, the plant-based coloring used to alter orange cheddar is completely safe.
I always thought that baby corn is a distinct varietal of corn that only grows to a certain size—and judging by queries all over the internet, many others did, too. But in fact, the name is more of a giveaway than I realized: Per HuffPost, baby corn is regular corn that’s grown to its teeny-tiny size and harvested before its prime, plucked in its infancy. (So it’s not like baby carrots, which are full-grown carrots shaved down to a miniature size.) Most corn farmers are able to harvest baby corn from their standard stalks; they just pick the immature corn in its early growing phases and harvest the remaining corn when it reaches full maturity.
Unless you live in a coastal area, it’s wise to approach raw fish with some degree of skepticism. (Honestly, seafood skepticism is a good practice in coastal areas, too—you never know where that fish has been.) Dubious origins aside, your sushi menu could be gravely mislabeled. A 2017 report by UCLA found that more than 47% of sushi in Los Angeles sushi restaurants was mislabeled, either to “turn a profit or skirt environmental regulations.” The offenses ranged from mild—different types of tuna used interchangeably—to severe, with diners being served flounder in place of halibut or red snapper.
When you see the words “imitation crab,” you should know to temper your expectations. But most crab sticks, colloquially known as “Krab,” does contain actual seafood—just not the kind you’d expect. Per Greatist, most imitation crab involves a mixture of finely ground whitefish and other fillers like red dye, wheat, egg white, and transglutaminase. (That last one is a fancy way of saying “meat glue.”) Not a crab in sight.
We’ll end on a positive note. Remember that viral tweet suggesting that red, green, and yellow bell peppers were all exactly the same pepper? Not true, folks. In 2018, Insider shared what any savvy gardener knows: green, red, and yellow peppers are all grown from distinct seeds. While some green peppers at the grocery store are unripe red peppers, there are definite differences between most yellow, green, and red varieties. No pepperganda here.