More food fraud.

[Workingman]

This time it is herbs and spices, according to Which?.

Sales of these have gone through the roof in the past decade as more of us try to make our own recipes... and they are not cheap. Dried oregano is one under the present spotlight, but the FSA is looking into the whole herb and spice market. Samples of oregano have been found to contain between 30% and 70% of other ingredients such as olive or myrtle leaves!

The fraud must be an easy trick to pull with dried herbs and ground spices, especially on those who only have a vague idea of what things look and taste like. I tend to buy herbs in cut-and-come-again pots. I know what I am getting and their taste is better. I also buy spice seeds and ground my own for similar reasons.

The report also says that it has found other meats in lamb meals and that 1 in 6 fish from fish and chip shops is not as advertised. The food chain must be a right mess.

[Suff]

Everyone wants more for less. Supermarket owners want more profit in a time of crisis which is clearly still not over. It is the job of the FSA to control this, but the abuse is so widespread that it's hard to control.

This was the case with medicines back in the early 1900's. It was so difficult that the American FDA started meeting out fines so large that it quite literally broke companies which either went bankrupt or were bought out by other companies for a song.

It may get that way but I'm doubting that any government wants to cripple anyone in the business chain right now. But I'm guessing that's what it's going to take...

[Workingman]

I do not want more for less, I want what I am paying for.

The foods most at risk of being adulterated are actually those offering less for more. It is processed foods, as with the dried herbs and ground spices, which can more easily be filled out with other ingredients; and buying them is a false economy.

At least if people buy fresh fruit, veg and meat they should have some idea of what they are getting. Once something gets in a box or a tin to be reheated later it could contain anything, and often does.

[Suff]

I meant the market in general. The technology market has ruined everyone. There is an expectation that next year it will be cheaper for more as it is with huge TV's etc.....

Fresh fruit and veg is now a premium and what is put in a tin is massaged to pay for the "more for less" products.... The only thing that can stop it is for attitudes to change and those who know better aren't getting any younger. Not everyone has passed this on to their children and not every child believes what is passed on.....

[Diflower]

I do buy basil plants, they're brilliant value, keep going for weeks and we get a lot of use from them.
Things like cumin, coriander seeds, etc, I buy as whole seeds too, so they're ok, obviously so are mustard seeds, star anise, things like that.
Bay, rosemary, thyme, chives, sage and mint I grow so no problem there.

Dried oregano though is one I buy a lot.
It smells very strongly of oregano when you open it, and I do look at the contents; the jars from Lidl are cheap but look and smell fine to me

[Kaz]

I grow my own (rosemary, basil, sage, chives, mint, thyme) although I do buy dried oregano, like Di said

There is nothing like a handful of fresh herbs, and even without a garden most can be grown in pots on a windowsill or window box/balcony

[Workingman]

There is nothing like a handful of fresh herbs, and even without a garden most can be grown in pots on a windowsill or window box/balcony

That's what I do with the cut-and-come-again pots.

The oregano thing is interesting. If you know what it looks and smells like it is easy, but if you are new to herbs...! I buy bags of the stuff and look for an even cut and an even colour, but I know what I am looking and smelling for.

Sadly, we are now a minority, and as Suff noticed, this is not being passed on by many...