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NYC High Schoolers Find Fake Food Labeling With DNA

Posted December 31, 2009 9:00 AM

From Scientific American:

Before you pay big money for caviar, check with two New York City high school students. Brenda Tan and Matt Cost worked with DNA barcoding experts at Rockefeller University and other researchers at the American Museum of Natural History to identify hundreds of food samples, assorted hairs and animal bits in their neighborhood. The Trinity School seniors discovered 95 different species of animal and 11 cases of fraudulent food labeling. Their findings appear in the January issue of the journal BioScience .

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Guru
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#1

Re: NYC High Schoolers Find Fake Food Labeling With DNA

12/31/2009 7:59 PM

This is not a bad idea, with government agencies such as the FDA crying how short handed they are. A line themselves with high school science and biology classes to do the preliminary watch dogs testing to flag problems an issues of not only fraudulent but also health concerns such as bacteria food supply.

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Anonymous Poster
#2
In reply to #1

Re: NYC High Schoolers Find Fake Food Labeling With DNA

01/01/2010 1:17 AM

That may be considered child abuse...

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Guru
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#3
In reply to #2

Re: NYC High Schoolers Find Fake Food Labeling With DNA

01/01/2010 6:53 AM

But its would be a start of binging the government "Back to The People"

Heck te union would throw a fit.......or wait, they can unionize the kids. Look at all the fresh young empty minded recruits.

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“ When people get what they want, they are often surprised when they get what they deserve " - James Wood
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Anonymous Poster
#4

Re: NYC High Schoolers Find Fake Food Labeling With DNA

01/05/2010 2:06 PM

"And alleged sturgeon caviar was just cheap Mississippi paddlefish eggs." Paddlefish caviar is NOT cheap, 2 oz can run $85-1-$150. Paddle fish caviar is highly sought, they are only found in the US, they are protected in most/all states, and their fishing is highly regulated. The fishing season may only last for 4 to 5 days in some states with a 1000 fish harvest cap being in place. There is a large market for paddlefish caviar and a relatively limited supply. In fact some canneries sell out within days of the product becoming available. I do not see a company intentionally mislabeling the product. Could it be that they assumed what type of caviar they had without reading the label?

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