The food industry's biggest scandals

Tuna

Successful sales, Mysterious meat, Horse meat, Soy chicken, Controversial advertising, Paprika with lead, Juice replaced by water, Chicken with water, Bottled tap water, Fake eggs for sale, Mud pepper

Subway made headlines for all the wrong reasons, and it was not for the first time. The New York Times led an analysis of Subway's tuna sandwiches, and the results suggest that their tuna ain't tuna. They failed to identify tuna DNA in the sandwiches and stated the the species of fish was unidentifiable. A spokesperson from the lab said there were two possible conclusions: either the tuna is so heavily processed that they couldn't make the identification, or that it simply wasn't tuna at all. 

This blow to the sandwich franchise has come just a few months after a class-action lawsuit was filed against them, alleging the misrepresentation of fish in their products. Subway insists that the claims are meritless and that they only use 100% cooked tuna in their restaurants. 

Successful sales

Successful sales, Mysterious meat, Horse meat, Soy chicken, Controversial advertising, Paprika with lead, Juice replaced by water, Chicken with water, Bottled tap water, Fake eggs for sale, Mud pepper

According to Fox News, the start-up Hampton Creek, maker of vegan mayonnaise called Just Mayo, inflated the sales of their product. The company bought numerous units of the product, making investors think that the sales were better than they really were.

Mysterious meat

Successful sales, Mysterious meat, Horse meat, Soy chicken, Controversial advertising, Paprika with lead, Juice replaced by water, Chicken with water, Bottled tap water, Fake eggs for sale, Mud pepper

KFC suffered a huge setback in China when it was discovered the meat they used was supplied by Shanghai Husi Food Co. This company used meat which had fallen on the ground, as well as mixing fresh meat with other out-of-date meat.

Horse meat

Successful sales, Mysterious meat, Horse meat, Soy chicken, Controversial advertising, Paprika with lead, Juice replaced by water, Chicken with water, Bottled tap water, Fake eggs for sale, Mud pepper

According to USA Today, traces of horse meat were discovered in the meat used by Burger King. When this was revealed, the restaurant chain immediately broke ties with their supplier.

Soy chicken

Successful sales, Mysterious meat, Horse meat, Soy chicken, Controversial advertising, Paprika with lead, Juice replaced by water, Chicken with water, Bottled tap water, Fake eggs for sale, Mud pepper

According to the Fox News online edition, a study carried out by a Canadian organization concluded that the chicken meat used in Subway restaurants contained just 50% chicken DNA. Investigators discovered Subway restaurants were using soy to make up the other 50%.

Controversial advertising

Successful sales, Mysterious meat, Horse meat, Soy chicken, Controversial advertising, Paprika with lead, Juice replaced by water, Chicken with water, Bottled tap water, Fake eggs for sale, Mud pepper

According to The Express Tribune, when the Hardee's chain of restaurants arrived in Pakistan in 2009, they launched an ad campaign featuring a woman grabbing two bread buns. The controversy arose because the picture was made to look like the woman was grabbing a butt.

Paprika with lead

Successful sales, Mysterious meat, Horse meat, Soy chicken, Controversial advertising, Paprika with lead, Juice replaced by water, Chicken with water, Bottled tap water, Fake eggs for sale, Mud pepper

According to the LA Times, nearly 50 people in Hungary were admitted to the hospital after ingesting paprika containing lead. Apparently the lead was used to make the paprika more appealing to the eye.

Juice replaced by water

Successful sales, Mysterious meat, Horse meat, Soy chicken, Controversial advertising, Paprika with lead, Juice replaced by water, Chicken with water, Bottled tap water, Fake eggs for sale, Mud pepper

According to The New York Times, in 1987 it was found that the brand Beech-Nut was selling an apple juice for babies, but turned out to be nothing more than water with sugar. They were fined two million dollars.

Chicken with water

Successful sales, Mysterious meat, Horse meat, Soy chicken, Controversial advertising, Paprika with lead, Juice replaced by water, Chicken with water, Bottled tap water, Fake eggs for sale, Mud pepper

According to The Guardian, some big supermarkets such as Aldi and Asda were selling chicken breasts pumped full of water and additives.

Bottled tap water

Successful sales, Mysterious meat, Horse meat, Soy chicken, Controversial advertising, Paprika with lead, Juice replaced by water, Chicken with water, Bottled tap water, Fake eggs for sale, Mud pepper

According to a 2012 article from the Daily Mail online edition, some big supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda were selling bottled tap water.

Fake eggs for sale

Successful sales, Mysterious meat, Horse meat, Soy chicken, Controversial advertising, Paprika with lead, Juice replaced by water, Chicken with water, Bottled tap water, Fake eggs for sale, Mud pepper

According to the online edition of Time magazine, in 2012 there were many people in China selling eggs at a lower price than supermarkets. This eggs turned out to be fake, and made out of a mold, filled with resin, starch and pigments.

Mud pepper

Successful sales, Mysterious meat, Horse meat, Soy chicken, Controversial advertising, Paprika with lead, Juice replaced by water, Chicken with water, Bottled tap water, Fake eggs for sale, Mud pepper

According to The Global Times, in China a man was selling fake pepper. The black pepper was made of mud and the white made of flour.

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