cement garlic is sold as real, count down those fake ingredients: not only make money, but also may cost lives
2024-09-17
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the recent rise in garlic prices in india has made "pasta mixed with no. 42 concrete" a reality(image source:indiatoday.in）
written by | quasimodo by the riverrecently, if you go to a vegetable market in india, be careful:be careful about buying garlic made from cement!in maharashtra, india, a woman went out to buy vegetables as usual and saw a vendor sellinggarlic. india is divided into different categories according to ingredients, such as "spices", "vegetables" and "fruits". normally, garlic is a spice crop and requires agents to sell it, so the price will be higher. however, the price of garlic sold by the vendors in front of me is much lower than the market price.the woman happily bought half a pound of garlic and went home, but when she started cooking, she found something unusual: she couldn't peel a garlic clove.this is made of cement.. it was painted with a layer of white paint, and it was not visible at all because it was mixed in with the garlic.fake garlic made of cement (picture)source: indiatoday.in
i have to say that the counterfeiters' craftsmanship is really good. not only did they make the garlic cloves look like real garlic, they also carefully attached the roots with straw. the size and color are very similar to real garlic, so it's no wonder that they are mistaken for real ones.using cement to impersonate garlic is really too much.garlic sold in the market (Allium sativum), is actually a plantunderground bulb。in addition to eating garlic,garlic sproutsandgarlic sproutsit is also the most commonly eaten part of garlic.when someone uses other plants to impersonate them, it's not that easy to tell the difference.when the garlics are piled together, it gives the cement garlic room to look real.(picturesource: indiamart.com)
garlic sproutsalso known as green garlic, it is the green garlic seedlings that have grown to a certain stage. its tender leaves and leaf sheaths are edible. since garlic is a species of the genus allium in the amaryllis family, it is closely related to chinese radish (also known as xiebai,Allium chinense),leek(Allium tuberosum),onion(Allium fistulosum) are relatively close, and the seedlings grown from these plants can easily be sold as garlic sprouts.
however, the easiest to impersonate garlic sprouts isleek（Allium porrumthis is also a plant of the genus allium, native to central and southern europe, and now widely cultivated in my country. its appearance is almost exactly the same as garlic sprouts, with flat and wide leaves, thick and white sheaths, and solid leaves, unlike ordinary onion leaves.the presence of leeks also caused a disagreement: what kind of plant is hatsune miku shaking in "onion song"? the japanese version says it's onion, but the english version says it'sleeks (photo credit:fandom.com）
but if you buy it as garlic sprouts, you may be disappointed, because although it also has a spicy smell, the taste is more likeweakened versionit is definitely not satisfying to use green onions to stir-fry bacon.leeks are not very popular in my country, but they are very popular in europe."fickle": humans have used this plant to cultivate not only garlic sproutsleek, and also cultivated leeks-likeegyptian leek, and garlic-likeelephant garlic。the three vegetables in the picture are actually leeks (picture fromsource:foodandtools.com）
garlic sprouts vs daffodils
garlic sproutsit is often easily confused with garlic sprouts, and some places also call it garlic sprouts. but generally speaking, garlic scapes refer to the flower stems that grow out of garlic, which can be simply summarized asgarlic sprouts are leaves, garlic stalks are flowers。compared with garlic sprouts, there are fewer vegetables that pretend to be garlic scapes. however, many people who are not familiar with plants can easily mistake them for garlic sprouts.daffodil（Narcissus pseudonarcissusbefore they bloom, the flower stems of daffodils do look like garlic scapes, but daffodils are much more dangerous. they contain lycorine and other toxic alkaloids, which can cause severe vomiting, diarrhea and cramps if ingested, and can be life-threatening if not treated in time.daffodils are also a species of the amaryllidaceae family, and are also known as "elegant garlic". daffodils are extremely popular in the uk, and fresh cut flowers are often sold in the fruit and vegetable section, so it is easy for chinese people who are not familiar with plants to buy and eat them by mistake. every year, there are many cases of eating daffodils by mistake in the uk (picture fromsource:village.com）
chestnut vs aesculus hippocastanum
in europe, there is another plant that is easily mistaken for food. this ishorse chestnut（Aesculus hippocastanum）。this is a common street tree in europe and the united states. it has a beautiful tree shape and its leaves change from green to red and then to yellow in autumn.the fruit shell has thorns, and when you open the shell, you will findchestnut（Castanea mollissima) is a common nut, even the flesh is the same color as chestnuts.
but don't be fooled by its appearance. the fruit of the horse chestnut is also calledhorse chestnut, which contains a large amount of saponin. although the name contains "chestnut", horse chestnuts are not edible and can cause poisoning, leading to vomiting, burping, coma, convulsions and even death. fortunately, horse chestnuts taste bitter, and most people know that they are not chestnuts after taking a bite.。
truffle(tuber) is a general term for the mycorrhizae of several edible ascomycetes fungi. because wild truffles are scarce and have a unique smell, they have always been an expensive food ingredient, which gives counterfeiters room to impersonate them.
many mushrooms and even potatoes are used to impersonate truffles, but the most commonpuffballpuffball is a much more common species than truffles. it is also a general term for many types of fungi. the biggest feature of this type of fungus is that when the fruiting body matures, the spores will suddenly explode, just like a cannonball.
young puffballs are edible, with a rich and mellow flavor, similar to truffles. for those who have never tasted truffles, it may be difficult to tell the difference between puffballs and truffles. however, truffles have now been artificially cultivated. i believe that with the power of technology, the use of puffballs to impersonate truffles will gradually decrease in the future.。
in addition to vegetables, meat is also not spared"mistakenly attributed a title"situation.basa fish and longli fish are both common fish in the market. both types of fish have tender meat and no small bones. they are "regulars" in hot pot and sauerkraut fish.but in fact, the two are not the same fish, and due to the huge price difference, basa fish is often used to impersonate dragon fish.
longli fishit is the common name for fish of the order pleuronectiformes in hong kong and guangdong. because the fish body is flat and looks like a tongue (called "脷" in cantonese), it is called dragon tongue or dragon fish. this is a type of fish that lives on the seabed near the coast, and its body length is generally more than 70 cm.common flounder (solea solea) is one of the most common sole species (image source:wikipedia.org）
basa fish is actually mainly produced in the mekong delta of vietnam and the chao phraya river of thailand.giant catfish（Pangasius bocourti), it is not only not a longli fish, it is not even a marine fish. an adult basa fish can reach 1.5 meters in length and 15 kilograms in weight. because this fish has strong adaptability, grows quickly, and is currently cultivated in large quantities, its price in the market is much cheaper than that of longli fish.
in fact, the two are completely different in appearance and can be easily distinguished. it is just that we usually buy frozen fish fillets, and the taste is similar, so it is not easy to distinguish. in fact, the taste and nutrition of regular farmed basa fish are not inferior to longli fish, but if basa fish is impersonated as longli fish, it is an outright deception.。
compared with the relationship between basa fish and longli fish, the following group is even more excessive:codoriginally referred to four species of fish in the genus arctogadu of the family gadidae, it later included some other deep-sea edible fish. the common feature of these fish is their delicious meat and high nutritional value.atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) was once one of the most common cod species, but its population has declined dramatically due to heavy fishing.(image source: inaturalist.org）
the oily fish that is often used to impersonate cod is calledheterodon serratus（Lepidocybium flavobrunneum), it is also a deep-sea fish that can be found in many temperate and tropical waters around the world. in fact, this fish tastes very good and tastes similar to cod. however, there is a small problem with eating this fish:easy to have diarrhea。the eyes of the scorpion are large and have high optical sensitivity.(image source: australian.museum）
the meat of the snake mackerel is rich innatural wax estersthese wax esters are not toxic to the human body because our intestines cannot break down and absorb them. these wax esters are usually used as lubricants in industry, so when we eat the snake mackerel, it is actually likedrink oil, which can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps and other discomfort symptoms, and fat accumulates in the rectum and causes oily diarrhea. fortunately, this situation will not last too long and will generally heal on its own within a day or two.
whether it is cement garlic or using similar species to "fill in the gaps", unworthy ingredients will torture everyone who faces them. however, compared with the above, there is another one in the food world.absolute king, i hope you will be vigilant and don’t fall into the trap!references:
[8] Max H Pittler,Edzard Ernst. Horse chestnut seed extract for chronic venous insufficiency. Cochrane Library. Cochrane Vascular Group.
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