Are labels specially designed for the holidays misleading? Some are in any case singled out by the Foodwatch association, which accuses them of misleading the consumer. Since 2017, it has displayed brands that take advantage of the end-of-year holidays to present their product in a… misleading light.
From dishes that shrink in size to those that feature a luxury ingredient that is only present in small quantities, the bad students of the year 2023 have shone. This is why Brossard’s “special foie gras” gingerbread, a honey cake par excellence, which does not contain a single drop of the precious bee nectar. In a similar style, Guyader’s scallop terrine is castigated for its composition.
Lemon water and hake scallops
Foodwatch is upset that the main ingredient of the product is hake and adds that, if the label boasts a “Breton-style” recipe, the shellfish have “nothing Breton about”. Finally, scallops are accused of being “scallops or combs, cheaper shellfish from the same family bought in bulk”. A “trifecta” for the product, says the association.
For lemon water rather than lemon on your salmon, Bjorg offers a “kitchen lemon” which highlights hydration with 70% water. Other brands fall back on safe bets, such as “shrinkflation”, a method which consists of hiding product price increases by reducing their weight.
The “Golden Casserole 2023”
This is the case for Labeyrie smoked salmon which lost 10 grams when its price per kilo increased by 19%. As for Ferrero Rocher’s chocolate eggs, Foodwatch did the math: the bag is 52% empty. Asked by The Parisian, Ferrero Rocher defends itself by asserting that the packaging contains “a mixture of air and nitrogen which guarantees the conservation (…) of the pralines”. Enough to inflate the package but also the consumers.
The six products in the spotlight (or rather in dishonor) are put into competition on the Foodwatch site which offers consumers to vote for the “Casserole d’Or 2023”, aka the “worst Christmas etiquette scam.” Internet users have until December 20 at 11 p.m. to participate in the “least popular election in the food industry,” laughs the association.