This is what I received from a trustworthy person
ENJOY YOUR FOOD !
Paris mushrooms.
From Paris: they only have the name... ,Worse: 88% of them come from abroad
Supermarket shelves are most often full of mushrooms from the United States, China or the Netherlands: the three main producing countries.
Corsican charcuterie
It is also presented as one of the "purest products" of French soil.
And yet... Corsican charcuterie does not have any "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée".
Consumers will therefore only find products on the shelves of supermarkets on the continent whose raw materials come from elsewhere by more than 90%.
For example, despite the Moor's heads and the words "product of the Isle of Beauty" on the labels, the donkey sausage is imported from Argentina and the hams are mostly made from carcasses from China.
Aosta ham
This is one of the most consumed hams in France, but it has nothing to do with the charcuterie from the Italian city of Aosta. This product is actually made in France from Chinese and American carcasses, in a town of the same name but located in... Isère!
And unlike its transalpine counterpart, which is a raw ham, it is a semi-cooked ham.
The subterfuge worked for years since the registered trademark "Jambon d'Aoste" was owned by the Aoste group (Cochonou/Justin Bridou), the French leader in charcuterie.
It took the European Commission recently (2008) to ban the use of this confusing name for the ambiguity to cease.
The brand has since been renamed "Jambon Aoste"...!
The AOC of Brittany
Also presented as pure French local products, Brittany charcuterie has an "Appellation d'origine contrôlée" (Controlled Designation of Origin) which only requires manufacturers to do one thing: have at least one packaging or processing site in Brittany.
The consumer will therefore find products on the shelves of supermarkets
of which 82% of raw materials come from all over the world.
Thus, pig carcasses, often from China, Holland or Poland, salt called "Guérande", imported from Argentina and Vietnam, and andouille intestines imported mostly from Korea.
The so-called Vire andouille, and other "Brittany" charcuterie, thus join the "mythology" of Breton products, such as butter and pastries, 73% of which come from the European community and Asia.
Dijon mustard
To make Dijon mustard, you need vinegar, water, salt and seeds from... Canada!
Contrary to what one might believe, the seeds used in the preparation of the famous paste do not come from the Dijon region.
One explanation for this oddity: at the end of the Second World War, with the establishment of the Common Agricultural Policy, farmers lost interest in mustard, which did not allow them to receive subsidies from the European Union. Result: 90% of the production used for Dijon mustard now comes from Morocco.
Laguiole
The bee, the thin, slightly raised blade, the cross on the handle that made its reputation... Many believe that these symbols affixed to Laguiole knives are all signs of authenticity.
Error! ... Despite all their charm, they do not attest to the origin of the knife, nor to its manufacturing quality. Because the brand of the most famous of French knives has never been registered,
Laguiole has been the object of counterfeiting in France for over a century, and abroad, 80% of which come from China and Pakistan.
Result: less than 10% of Laguioles are made in the Aveyron town
Marseille soap
Along with pastis and lavender, it is the other symbol of Provence. The only problem is that soaps stamped "savon de Marseille" are not made in the South-East. Because if Marseille soap makers invented the manufacturing process in the Middle Ages, the name is not protected either.
Result: the biggest manufacturers today are the Chinese and the Turks!
And the vegetable oils used to make soap, particularly palm oil, come from abroad. The soaps only come to Marseille to be perfumed and packaged.
Charentais melon
The most famous French melon: yellow or green, the Charentais melon is the pride of producers in the Cognac region where the clay-limestone soils are perfectly suited to its cultivation.
But unlike its cousin from Cavaillon, the Charente melon does not have an AOC.
Result: 80% of the Charente melons found on the stalls do not come from Cognac but from Spain, Morocco, the Caribbean, China and Senegal...
Camembert
An emblem of French gastronomy, Normandy Camembert is by far the most copied cheese on supermarket shelves.
An explanation for this phenomenon: having fallen into the public domain, the name "camembert" can be used by any producer from any country... And despite an AOC!
From the "Camembert de Normandie" which has existed since 1983, many manufacturers use the very similar term "Camembert made in Normandy".
The differences: pasteurized milk instead of raw milk, a shorter maturing process and production that is not subject to any rules.
They are presented as the jewels of the terroir, but when you look more closely you discover that their name is dubious.
Raw materials imported from abroad (30% of milk comes from China, 50% from all of Europe).
Often misleading labeling, unspecified additives, manufacturing outside the limits of the region where only vague brokerage offices exist.
Olive oil
Rare and expensive, French olive oil is certainly the product with the most fraudulent labels. In 2006, only 56% of the samples analyzed were "compliant" with the regulations, with some bottles containing up to 50% sunflower oil or presenting a false indication of origin or olive variety.
The symbol of Mediterranean cuisine has only 7 protected designations of origin and one AOC "Huile de Provence", many producers are causing confusion by adding photos of landscapes evoking the South or unrecognized origins such as "Huile de Provence" on the labels.
Provence-Côte d'Azur".
Not to mention one of the most common frauds which consists of replacing olive oil with olive pomace oil, a residue of olive paste which is difficult to detect for the simple amateur.
Conclusion:
At the top of the shenanigans linked to globalization, we can only congratulate our supermarkets/hypermarkets...
