01/08/2026
Do you really know what you are eating?
Let’s not forget…the commercial food manufacturing industry is part of a larger web
“Big Food” create the problems for “Big Pharma” to fix, because most are owned by the same companies…
They sell you the “problem”, which creates the “reaction” to keep you forever paying for the “solution”
https://www.facebook.com/share/1UpPCFUhJn/?mibextid=wwXIfr
The Australian investigative TV show, 4 Corners, has released a new episode called “Duped: Food Exposed” on the topic of truth in the production, supply chains, marketing, labelling, selling, safety, and eating of our foods.
In short, they found a huge amount of food fraud, which is costing Australians $3 BILLION per year.
Some examples of food fraud and other issues in the investigation includes:
• 25% of processed tomato products, such as tomato paste or puree, passata etc were found to have not been grown in the locations claimed on the label. Leggo’s tomato paste had a big problem, with 80% showing they were produced in China, despite the company’s labelling and marketing suggesting they were “Australian grown”. Being from China is a concern because of their apparent unregulated use of agricultural chemicals on crops, as well as from forced labour on tomato farms. Other brands and products also failed forensic testing of their location of origin compared to their marketing or labelling.
• Even Italian branded tomato products being sold in Australian supermarkets (Coles, Woolies, Aldi) use slave labour in their farming, harvesting or production.
• 27% of brands of turmeric were found to have been diluted or adulterated, or contaminated by iron oxide in a major spice brand (Hoyt’s), or lead in some brands and products. Hoyt’s had also previously been fined by the ACCC after their oregano herb products were found to be bulked up with olive leaves! Other turmeric brands were bulked up with other materials.
• Many “honey” products in Australia is adulterated with sugar syrups.
• Many egg brands were found to be labelled as from “cage free” chicken farms, when they were not, especially some Woolworths products.
• 33% of prawns failed country of origin testing. Origin testing of fish products was even worse.
• On average, one packaged food product per week is pulled off supermarket shelves in Australia, due to an undeclared allergen, which was almost always found from a customer with the allergy and not from the food regulators.
• Some “dairy-free” labelled products were found to contain dairy, such as Cocobella and RawC coconut products.
• Food scientists are paid to develop processed foods which taste, smell, and feel good using chemicals and additives which can be harmful to your health.
• Marketing terms such as “100% natural” and others have no regulation and are not accurate or even true.
• Highly processed and packaged foods that can be 60% sugar or higher, are specifically marketed as healthy foods for kids.
• Various food rating systems such as the Health Star Rating is flawed as they are based on a ridiculous formula calculation which is influenced by the food industry companies to hide issues in processed and packaged foods, and to pretend that foods are healthy so people buy them, when they are not healthy at all.
• The food regulators are almost useless, and the penalties for breaches are not much more than a slap on the wrist, and don’t stop the same companies doing the same things again.
• Foods are not the only substances which can be contaminated or affected, but alcoholic drinks too. Every sample of alcoholic spirits exceeded their methanol alcohol content, some by over 9x times more than the allowed limit of methanol. Some people have died from too-high methanol content in alcoholic drinks.
Other countries have food fraud organisations and investigations, but Australia does not.
I highly recommend that you watch this Part 1 of the Duped show on ABC iView for free! The link to this show can be found here:
https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners/series/2026/video/NC2603H024S00
Sadly, we tend to believe the labelling on foods products, or the ingredients lists on these products. Two million Australians have food allergies, which makes accurate food labelling critical. When 66% of foods and drinks in Australian supermarkets are “ultra-processed” it’s a big concern, as you can’t really trust the labelling, marketing, or ingredients.
Better to reduce or avoid such processed and packaged products and only buy FRESH foods as meats and vegetables, and make your own meals instead!
Stay healthy!
References:
ABC. (2026). Duped: Food Exposed (Part 1). Retrieved 29th July 2026 from https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners/series/2026/video/NC2603H024S00
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