How to spot fake foods

There is a flourishing trade which thrives by mislabelling cheaper food substitutes as the real thing

When we talk about ‘fake food’ in India, we usually mean food that has been adulterated. We might refer to dal to which pebbles have been added to make up some extra weight. Or to oil which has been mixed with cheaper fuels.

True soya sauce is a complex concoction with thousands of grades and varieties(Shutterstock)

Much of the world’s cheap honey comes from China and is produced using dodgy processes (Shutterstock)

In Australia and New Zealand, honey flavoured with the pollen of the Manuka tree is a big deal and you find it at gourmet shops around the world at high prices (Shutterstock)

Real maple syrup is mostly Canadian and always costly (Shutterstock)

Balsamico from Modena in Italy is one of the world’s great condiments (Shutterstock)

Something like 95 per cent of the wasabi in restaurants is fake (Shutterstock)

Truffle oil usually has nothing to do with real truffles; a tiny proportion is made by infusing truffles into good olive oil (Shutterstock)