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This year, the global food market revenue stands at around 9.36 trillion US dollars. For comparison, Germany's entire economy is valued at "just" $4.4 trillion. What's more, it's estimated that the figure should continuously increase between 2023 and 2028 by 38.46 percent and reach $12.97 trillion.

But big money brings tough competition, and businesses may try all sorts of tactics to get an edge.

Interested in the practices of this sector, Reddit user Lilyxrx made a post on the platform, asking everyone, "What's a secret the food industry doesn't want you to know?" Turns out, many more wanted to know, too. As of now, the post has 4.6K upvotes and 3.5K comments. Here are some of the most interesting ones.

#1

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets Beekeeper checking in - there is no such thing as organic honey. I do not treat my bees with chemicals, but I have no idea where they get their nectar. A bee can fly up to three miles from a hive to get nectar. It is virtually impossible to guarantee they have not gotten nectar from a chemically treated source.

toad__warrior , Bianca Ackermann Report

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atkinsdan avatar
Daniel Atkins
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or found a can or cup containing soda. Now that it is winter they visit convenience store trash cans.

editor_16 avatar
tobb-1 avatar
WindySwede
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All honeybees are? Maybe not if you feed them sugar water in the hive, and have it locket up, but then you are not so nice person!

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Breadcrumb.
Community Member
4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've heard if you grow certain flowers in abundance close to the hive the honey will take on flavors from those flowers..like lavender honey?

paulfarrington-douglas avatar
PFD
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, but there's still a mix. The varying flavours result naturally with different seasonal flowers and crops, too. We buy honey direct from a beekeeper and buy months' worth at a time, and he gives us a selection made at different times. The colours and flavours are quite distinct.

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arthbach
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There might not be organic honey in your area, but it's a big world out there. Stick a few hives on the heather moors, more than 5 miles from people, and you'll have organic honey. It totally depends on where the hives are located.

roger_simmons_94 avatar
The Camera Man
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I beg to differ. There are actually honey producers here in Canada who have attestations from all farmers up to 3 miles (5 Km) from their hives stating that those farmers do not use chemicals on their crops.

tiffg avatar
Tiff G
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Honeybees are naturally averse to most heavily-treated plants, but the CFIA has some pretty stringent guidelines in terms of what can be certified as "organic" (and they're SUPER d!x when it comes to honey - I mean, it's only one of the most important and useful natural compounds on the planet, so why not bury it under mountains of unnecessary regulations that make it less accessible???) 💩

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Costa Villaras
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also not true. Some hives are in forests, where no chemicals are used. (Yes, there are forests larger than 12 sq. kilometres in Europe!)

boredpanda_99 avatar
SirWriteALot
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Always read where the honey is from. Some are imported and mixed, others are quite local.

vmblessing avatar
Verena
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It depends on where you live and what the rules are for a verified organic label.

haoyun2001 avatar
María Hermida
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In my country getting a verified organic label is dreadfully difficult. They (the "certifiers") do come every now and then to get samples of the product AND the surroundings, and they will suspend or expel a farmer if they find what shouldn't be there. For honey, the beehives must be located in very isolated areas, and there must be a certain number of different plants in the surroundings.

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Nae Nae BB
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This isn't necessarily true. Some people take their bees up to the mountains for rare flowers that have never been treated with any pesticides anywhere close by, I mean within dozens and dozens of miles in any direction. But yes, it's true bees are not treated with pesticides as it would kill them.

shdw107 avatar
Shadow
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually yes, there is organic honey. I get mine from Lev Haolam from Israel. The honey farmers move the actual bee hives from first one flowering orchard in the spring, like cherry blossoms, then to apple orchards, then move them to peach orchards, them to raspberry fields. No chemicals in any of the products. Thankfully the farmers are far enough away from the fighting and the main company Lev Haolam has farmers, craftspeople, artists, chocolatiers, bakers, all sorts that by being a member we help those suffering in Israel. The honey is amazing and organic. Just have to know where to get it. Their olive oil is beyond perfect also.

lykke avatar
Henrik Nielsen
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In Denmark the rule is that nectar and pollen sources within a 3 km radius of the apiary should consist mainly of organic crops and wild vegetation.

temoxham2 avatar
TMoxraaaar
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Companies think they are clever by saying "organic". When they are called out they all say the same thing: "organic means it's made of carbon".

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Kraneia The Dancing Dryad
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's a story floating around about blue honey... turns out, the bees were visiting an M&M factory

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Aileen Grist
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm more interested in how the bees are treated. Do you take all their honey and feed them sugar water in winter? Do you kill the hive and start with a new queen the following year? Things like that. I buy honey from bees that are supported to live as though wild.

sonja_6 avatar
Sonja
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've seen organic farmers growing winter crops in gigantic greenhouses. Like fresh strawberries in winter and stuff like that. Also exotic crops that need warmer temperatures, and using bees in them to pollinate the plants all year round. Those bees would make guaranteed organic honey because they can't get out. It's done to reduce emissions from transportation and geow things locally.

micheldurinx avatar
Marcellus II
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Honeybees are dreadful pollinators for most plants — and get disoriented in greenhouses. Hence farmers rent various bumblebees and in some countries eg leafcutter bees.

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Huddo's sister
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are Organic honey producers, but they make agreements with the farms around them (up to at least 3 miles) to also grow organic food.

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Pierre Couture
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

beekeepers often 'fog' their bee hives with smoke to calm them down when removing honeycombs. that's gotta find its way into the honey too, no? https://www.buddhabeeapiary.com/blog/why-do-beekeepers-use-smoke

windbiter avatar
Catherine Spencer-Mills
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No food is "organic." Farmers are allowed to treat their crops with fertilizers and pesticides just longer from harvest than other crops (US laws). Additionally, foods imported may claim they are organic without inspections in land of origin. Though often there is never an inspection. "Free range organic" chickens? We raised chickens. They eat garden snakes, snails, slugs, rats, each other....Don't pay extra for what does not exist.

pabloramos avatar
Pablo Ramos
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love to be challenged. What if I had a gigantic screened yard? Bees cannot get out. In it i have thousands of organically grown flowers

tiffg avatar
Tiff G
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to work for a local honey producer (Canada)... I've definitely lost some life expectancy trying to explain this principle (among other bee-related factors) to swarms of various Karens over the years, as farmers' markets seem to be the target of TBYM (trophy-beatch yoga moms) armed with buzzword knowledge courtesy of yesterday's episode of Dr. Oz or something similar. 🙄

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Not_Today_Batman
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Eyes opened. Would have realized this if I wasn't a zombie and put the weight behind the thought, taking the time to examine my actions is crucial. Thank you for waking my mind up.

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Jeremy Bolanos
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Isn't all honey Artisanal? Though, I think only the bee can claim that.

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Bored something
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You can get organic honey in Tasmania. There are hives here that are put in places far further out than 3miles into the bush. It is wonderful stuff.

mkovacs avatar
M Kovacs
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nor can you say it comes from specific flowers either, not 100% anyway

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William Johnson
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Uh, set it up 4 hours away from humans? But everything is organic, a beaver builds a damn and so does a human. We are all from earth and use only earth to do everything. Organic means nothing until we involve other planets

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Erik Ivan
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Honey is pretty organic. I mean, it's made out of organic matter.

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WindySwede
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Here at least, it's how you handle the honeybees. With treatment against pests for example, some are ok and sone not. Its not about how/where they get the nectar or pollen.

haoyun2001 avatar
María Hermida
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In my country (at least in my Autonomous Community) it's both: how you handle the honeybees and where the beehives are located, what polen they get, what plants are there in the surroundings, etc.

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Fora Nakit
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or you drive them 10 miles into the wilderness preferably near the national park and let them fly there.

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PlatinumThe8-BitCat
Community Member
4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I thought organic just meant naturally made and not processed

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lenhill avatar
Len Hill
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is true. I used to be a beekeeper, and I know bees can fly miles away from home looking for nectar. Organic honey is a lie

paulfarrington-douglas avatar
PFD
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The flower labels ("Acacia honey" etc.) are mostly BS as well, and for the same reason.

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Marcellus II
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not “mostly”. Many of those are absolutely dominant flowers that period that surrounding and make up the vast majority.

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Dim T
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I mean it doesn't matter as the organic label is entirely arbitrary anyway. it doesn't even mean sans pesticides or chemicals

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Ted Govostis
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Organic ANYTHING is a scam. Organic farming still uses pesticides. They just can't be synthetically derived. This means they have to rely on more broad range pesticides that generally don't work as well as the more advanced targeted ones.

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#2

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets The American FDA takes food additive safety claims from corporations at face value. If a corporation has done internal testing and says it’s safe the FDA approves it. In the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc if a corporation wants to get an additive approved, the governments have their own food labs. They will take your testing procedures/results and then do their own testing to see if they think your additives are safe, and then approve or deny accordingly. Same goes for medicines in farm animals. Canada won’t allow BGH (bovine growth hormone) as it shows up in the milk. America gets angry because they can’t sell dairy to Canada and the EU but we have rules banning widespread use of Antibiotics and hormones in farm animals. If you are ever travelling outside of America, pick up some food products off the shelf that look like the American brands and read the ingredients list. It’s probably half as long. I’ll let you work out that obesity epidemic cause for yourselves.

SatanLifeProTips , ckstockphoto Report

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Basically during the 80s, testing was outsourced to the producers of the products being tested. Same thing happened in the pharmaceutical industry. Regan's big push for deregulation at work.

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We managed to get in touch with the author of the post, and they were kind enough to have a little chat with us about it.

"I own a TikTok account where I repost questions from 'Ask Reddit' and the replies they receive, so I thought I might as well create my own thread," Lilyxrx told Bored Panda about its origins.

#3

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets Five Guys- not really a secret but everything was fresh as could be, we did not have a freezer at all only the fridge. Every morning the burgers were rolled into balls and weighed to make sure all were the same. Bread made fresh from local factories. Potatoes straight from Idaho or Washington. Freshly cut and washed 3 times to remove the starch before being cooked. All veggies were labled by date for freshness. Honestly probably one of the cleanest places ive worked at.

Also at the register every single person would ask why it was so expensive but proceeded to buy it anyway. As if I could change the price for them.

Collegelifee , Jonathan Borba Report

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Tammilee Truitt
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's nice to hear this. Used to go occasionally to a store east of Dallas. Was really, really good. Last one I went to southwest of Dallas was awful and dirty. So much salt on everything. It was just a bad store/management. After reading this I'll try it again giving the chance.

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#4

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets They're making BANK windfall record profits right now under the guise of "inflation" and "supply issues". 

lancert , Eduardo Soares Report

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Mel Colley
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Who and when is this going ti stop? Answer: Not any time soon. Too many powerful people are getting paid!

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After going through the discussion their post has ignited, the Redditor has noticed that one theme definitely stood out from the rest. "From what I can see, it seems that the food industry is more unsanitary than we think," they said.

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And they're probably right. Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances can cause more than 200 different diseases, ranging from diarrhea to cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people – fall ill after eating contaminated food each year, resulting in 420,000 deaths and 33 million healthy life years (DALYs).

#5

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets Chef here. It’s salt and fat. If you have a question about anything it’s salt and fat.

LongRest , Louis Hansel Report

#6

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets Cows make milk not because they are cows but because they are mothers

Useful_Transition883 , Daniel Quiceno M Report

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XenoMurph
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's what "cow" means. If she's not a mother she's a hiefer. We have no name for that species in English, so we use the descriptor "cow"

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However, as we can see from this list, not all parts of the industry are working as they should (and there are plenty of things we regular folks don't know about) even though we all depend on it.

Lilyxrx believes that we often end up in the dark because of greedy businessmen and corporations, as industry leaders would rather chase money and cover up their questionable conduct instead of doing everything by the book.

Sadly, there are plenty of examples that support their words. And we don't need to look that far back to find something. On the night of October 4, Homeland Security and FBI agents teamed up for a raid on Gerber's Poultry in Ohio, United States, and found over two dozen children (mostly said to be from Guatemala) who were illegally employed in meat processing and sanitation.

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Hopefully, with time and effort, the industry becomes more transparent.

#7

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets The reason restaurant food tastes better than what you make at home is probably because it was drowned in butter or oil.

Also MSG is in nearly everything. Totally safe and delicious. And it definitely isn’t what is giving you a migraine. The fact you ate 4000 calories and 3 times your daily salt intake is probably what gave you the headache.

Greylings , RF._.studio Report

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editor_16 avatar
Sue Denham
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The reason restaurant food tastes better than what I make at home is because I didn't have to cook it.

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#8

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets Unless it’s a health conscious food joint you’re eating at, the food we serve is designed for maximum taste. It’s either dense with fat and sugar, or fat and salt . E.g. Those mashed potatoes you like? Made with cream, butter, and salt. The quiche? made on cream, not milk. Etc, etc.

petuniasweetpea , Rene Asmussen Report

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Sky Render
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It is amazing just how much salt, fat and sugar enhance flavors. Try making a cheese sauce with cornstarch and only a pinch of salt instead of butter and flour and you'll find out really fast just how much of the "cheesy" flavor of that sauce is from the fat and salt in the butter!

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#9

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets At least up until the pandemic hit, there is a 100% chance that you've eaten at a restaurant where 1 or 2 of the people directly handling your food were legitimately sick enough that they should have stayed home, but they had to come in to work anyway because they couldn't get their shift covered and they can't get a doctor's note without insurance or the money for a copay.

SanShadam , Jérémy Stenuit Report

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Leah
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also they can't afford to lose one shift from their paycheck.

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#10

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets Everything on the Mexican menu uses the same ingredients. Just built it different and give it a different name

Tortillas
Cheese
Salsa
Beans
Rice
Meat

Tacos, burrito, chilaquiles, tostada, chimichanga

It's all the same thing!

* written by a Mexican cook

SoCalChubXL , Herson Rodriguez Report

#11

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets The amount of sugar that goes into costco bakery products is absurd, especially the apple pie. That being said; Costco does not f**k around when it comes to food safety. Every area that is responsible for producing food is most likely cleaner than a white room for producing computer parts. There are virtually zero roaches, we found one in the bakery once and shut it down until the exterminator did his thing that very night. Someone returned a package of dinner rolls because their child had bit into one and a sharp piece of metal was in it, within less than 2 minutes every manager in the building was doing an investigation that led all the way up to the regional manager and his boss for several hours and determined that it had come off of a piece of machinery before it reached our location. We throw away rotisserie chickens if they have left (even for a few minutes) the shelf and someone tries to put it back.

Deathnachos , Clarisse Dsbt Report

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#12

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets Dragon fruit isn’t an exotic Asian fruit. It’s a cactus fruit, and as such are native to the Americas and can even be grown in the US.

ferretmonkey , engin akyurt Report

#13

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets The trick to good fried rice is old rice. It has to dry out for a bit in the fridge.

TwoFingersWhiskey , Louis Hansel Report

#14

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets Many of the cooks making your food are high and/or drunk.

Dont_ban_me_bro_108 , Louis Hansel Report

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Sleestak
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not so much a secret to anyone who's spent even the shortest time in the industry. One summer, 3 weeks into a summer job, and I knew everyone

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#15

It's not exactly a secret, but it's not common knowledge either.

Except for infant formula, dates are not an indicator of the product’s safety and are not required by Federal law. Phrases like "Best by [ date ]" or "Sell by" or "Use by" aren't regulated or required, and they are not (outside of baby formula) a statement of safety.

Manufacturers would rather have you throw out product, wasting it, and buying more, than stockpiling. So they put "best by" or "use by" dates even on non-perishible items like *salt*.

RodeoBob Report

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MoMcB
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not a thing in the UK, as we use shelf life testing to determine the dates. A best before date means exactly that, it tastes best before that date, it can still be perfectly safe to eat. Use by should be stuck to, it's usually on things like meat and dairy. Using modern packaging means that bacterial growth is over safe levels when it passes. I'm a Quality manager for a food company.

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#16

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets the organic industry is a f*****g scam.

there are levels to this s**t, and yes, you can purchase food that is grown and/or sourced more ethically than other options, but don't kid yourself. it was most likely still grown on a factory farm, and chemicals were used, etc. etc. just different chemicals.

and a lot of it comes from china. no s**t.

cubs_070816 , FitNish Media Report

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Sonja
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That doesn't count in every country though. In Europe the labels are strictly controlled and it has to fit the criteria that you can read up in the legal regulations.

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#17

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets I'm a trucker who hauls mostly refrigerated freight. I pick up at a lot of slaughterhouses. You really, really don't want to know what those places are like; let alone the conditions at feedlots or CAFOs.

TruckerBiscuit , Yassine Khalfalli Report

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Head_on_a_Stick
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The US has virtually no legislature in respect of animal welfare in food production. It's outrageous and disgusting.

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#18

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets The "natural flavors" are just big jugs of glycerin with hyper concentrated flavoring in it. Banana flavoring is fairly flammable.

Source: Worked in food manufacturing

irony_in_the_UK , Vinicius "amnx" Amano Report

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Can confirm. My degree is in Food Science. Green Apple = actylaldehyde. Butter? That's dyacyl ketone. Dimethyl Sulfide tastes like corn. And yeah I have heard that about banana flavoring but I can't remember the name of it.

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#19

When you give back a pack of ketchup to the restaurant because you didn’t use it, they thank you and smile and then they throw it out because you’re probably a weirdo who injected bleach into the ketchup pack.

mdotca Report

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Shane S
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Same with napkins. If you grab a huge pile of napkins and leave them all in a neat pile on your table, they get thrown away. It’s a safety and hygiene thing. Take just what you need.

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#20

I used to work in a sliced bread factory. The amount of bread that gets thrown in the trash for being just a little overcooked after a mechanical failure is astonishing. I always thought they should give it to homeless shelters something like that

CptZigouille Report

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Russell Rieckenberg
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In the food factories where I worked, food waste was sold to pig farms, but maybe pig farms don't want bread.

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#21

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets A lot of the processed cheese and cream cheese is all the same recipe we just switch the labels and packaging for the different brands we run. Source: I work in a cheese factory in a company that services 75% of America's domestic market

anon5678903276 , Alana Harris Report

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Pernille.
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meanwhile in France, sorry this can't be called a Roquefort it is made in the neighbouring department so you have to call it something else.

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#22

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets King crab and Maine lobster prices that restaurants pay are cheaper than they have been since even before the pandemic, yet we still charge more than ever before

dserf420 , Joy Real Report

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SM
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Prices are based on "what the market will bear", if people think everything should be costing more because of inflation, then the restaurants will certainly take advantage of this and charge more.

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#23

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets Pringles (and baked Lays/similar) are made of rehydrated and compressed rejected/excess parts of potatoes that go into regular chips. I learned that from my dietician at work and thought that was odd. I still like them over regular chips.

bluesasaurusrex , Arnold Antoo Report

#24

the inside of ice machines are covered in mold unless cleaned regularly. in the many different restaurants I worked in, exactly 1 cleaned the inside of their ice machine on a regular basis.

Kittenfabstodes Report

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Bottle Opener
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"SLIME in the ice machine!" -Marvin Zindler, Eye Witness News (Houston, Texas in the '80s.)

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#25

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets Well - I work at Dominos, and we are kept afloat by the people who don't coupon and pay full menu price. You people are the unsung heroes of labor.

LoweeLL , Alan Hardman Report

#26

That all vodka is nothing more than pure grain alcohol cut to proof with water. Source: was lab tech in an alcohol plant. We made everything from Walgreens vodka to Smirnoff vodka. The only difference was the bottle and label.

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Sleestak
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Largely agreed. There are premium vodkas that somehow create flavor with the U.S. required 5 times distillation. Those are great for shots and sips. But if you're mixing in a Bloody Mary, Screwdriver, Martini (especially if it's dirty), you're wasting your money on a premium. Don't go plastic bottle rock bottom, but save your money for something else.

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#27

Diet, not exercise, is the main factor in determining weight gain/loss

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SM
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The body is extremely efficient, it requires a LOT of exercise to burn of even a modest number of calories. On the other hand, exercise is needed for all around good health.

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#28

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets Buffalo wings are not made of buffalo, they're made of chicken.

Buffalo don't even have wings.

AutisticPenguin2 , Clark Douglas Report

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I believe they are called Buffalo Wings because they were first popularized in Buffalo, New York.

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#30

The secret is that they can tell us all their secrets and we still eat it because we are lazy, short-term-thinking f***s.

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René Sauer
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or maybe because not every one has the space, money or other resources to do something about it.

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#31

When you order "Shrimp fried rice" there isn't actually a shrimp frying the rice.

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#32

Subway- if it’s 12 inches or 11 inches, you’re getting the same amount of bread. Sometimes we’re just too lazy to stretch the bread

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#33

Alot of cooking is just the reheating of prep and Chef Mike (the microwave) gets used alot more than you think.

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Andy Cran
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

for UK readers this is just like"wetherspoons"....the steaks are fresh cooked though but mostly everything thing is pinged

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#34

The reason orange juice tastes consistently the same year round, even though it's a crop harvested once a year, is because citrus oils and citrus flavor are added back to different batches and blended all together. Similar to how whiskey is blended from multiple barrels to make it consistent.

The difference is that even though extra stuff is added back into the OJ, it doesn't need to be labeled because the flavors contain all ingredients from oranges (FTNF-from the named fruit) so the FDA doesn't mandate labeling additional ingredients.

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#35

Olive Garden makes all their necessary pastas for the whole day from 8-10am every morning. Partially cooked. So when an order comes through, they grab a serving of the needed pasta style and flash cook them in hot water. Also, it’s just the brand, Barilla.

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#36

Ooh I got one. Lots of manufacturing places nowadays are trying to push for "less than daily" sanitation. You heard that right. They want to use these machines all day long, not clean them overnight, and start up like normal the next day.

Currently working in a place that just started this practice. USDA is on board with it, they only care that the product tests well for culture counts before it's shipped off.

So when you have stuff in your fridge and it seems to expire faster than it used to it's probably because you got some 2 day old room temperature product mixed in with the fresh stuff.

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The only places I've worked that do this are wineries. Wine is a very inherently antimicrobial product so you can get away with running the same equipment without a clean. Especially since the next run is only about four hours out.

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#37

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets When I worked at a mass production bakery the chocolate for the chocolate covered doughnuts came in giant frozen blocks of 4x4 peices and contained no actual chocolate what so over. When unfrozen it was like some sort of nasty smelling paraffin wax that I would break up with a hammer and place into a melter that would then pour over the doughnuts.

gil_beard , Anna Sullivan Report

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MoMcB
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not allowed to call it chocolate in the UK, it's a chocolate flavour coating.

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#38

Farm animals lead absolutely terrible lives.

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Egg Lady
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are exceptions- my chickens run free outside in the country and are only locked up at night for their own protection. They give me eggs and I give them food-- they are not food-- they are never butchered.

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#39

most meat you buy in stores is packed with water and additives that add taste so you won't notice that it's all water. most meat shrinks when you fry it, the more shrinkage the more water was in the product in the beginning.

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Sharkie
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't think this is true in Europe... We have regulations and rules about water content in meat and additives.

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#40

“No Such Thing As Organic Honey”: 50 People Share Food Industry Secrets You technically can't get addicted to sugar, but sugar dependence is very real and can give you similar withdrawal symptoms to caffiene withdrawal. Your brain gets dopamine when you eat sugar, which means that most companies put as much sugar in their products as they can get away with so you feel good by eating them.

Tingcat , Denny Müller Report

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SM
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Humans can get addicted to almost anything. There is chemical addiction where the chemical adds to the addiction, but that isn't to say that an addiction without that is easy to break the habit.

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#41

Fancy restaurants' regular food tastes so good because it's DROWNED in butter and MSG. I dishwashed at a fancy seafood/steakhouse on the water and an average serving of asparagus had about a quarter stick of butter in it. People always asked what their "trick" with the asparagus was.

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#42

I was a young lad working at Church's Fried Chicken during the summer, many years ago. The owner refused to throw out chicken that had already gone bad; to the point where you'd gag if you smell them. Apparently if you batter them bad boys up and deep fry them, the rancid smell goes away. His customers never knew they were eating spoiled chicken.

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#43

Had a lady tell me that she doesn’t eat ketchup. When I asked her why she said that she was once the safety manager at a Heinz factory. Her job was to test for contamination of the batches. She said an alarm would go off when the levels got too high, and she would have to go and test the batch with a test strip. She said that no matter what the strip showed she would turn off the alarm and tell them to continue. She said she watched all kinds of s**t go in the batch. Spiders, bugs, etc.

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Russell Rieckenberg
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Has nothing to do with ketchup per se. There's no way you can avoid eating bugs or such things as mouse/rat hair. Doesn't matter where you get your food or ingredients. That's a simple fact of life.

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#44

That fancy dessert you bought at an expensive sitdown place was purchased frozen, warmed up, and sprinkled with chocolate to make it look like they made it themselves.

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#45

Your local health dept is probably overworked and understaffed. You should take an active role in evaluating if the restaurant is up to your standards.

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Birgit Sommer
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Excuse me, I need to see your kitchen, freezers, pantry and storage before being seated.

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#47

The apples you are buying from the produce department are anywhere from 9-14 months old.

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#48

Organic means nothing. Same with all natural. They are marketing terms.

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OSA
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Legislation in Australia says otherwise. Legally mandated standards that are government enforced.

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#49

Castorium is from a beaver's b******e, and it is used to make artificial raspberry flavor. (ETA) It can also used for strawberry and vanilla

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Bookworm
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It isn't, technically, the beaver's b******e. It's the beaver's scent gland which is located near the beaver's b******e. If anyone's ever had a dog that needed its a**l glands expressed at the vet - same thing. No less gross, though.

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#50

Every packaged and processed item you purchase is actively being worked on to be made cheaper, less nutritious or less flavorful. It’s the curse of “continuous improvement”. All it’s doing is making what once was a decent quality food item way worse for you and more expensive.

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PFD
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is stupid. Manufacturers do try to make products cheaper to produce, yes, but no one is "actively" working to make foods less nutritious and flavourful (except in edge cases perhaps such as making some strongly flavoured products milder to appeal to a wither consumer base). Where that happens, it's a side-effect of trying to achieve product efficiencies. Which leaves us with the claim that making a product cheaper makes it more expensive. Which is nonsense.

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