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Reporters Uncover: This is How Restaurants Cheat with Scampi

Order scampi, pay for scampi, but get fobbed off with significantly cheaper shrimp – this is the reality (probably not only) in Hamburg’s restaurants. Testers from the NDR program “Markt” came to this sobering conclusion.

The test eaters on the “Markt” show ordered scampi from three Italian restaurants in Hamburg, as well as from two branches of the upscale chains Vapiano and Gosch. The result: Although the noble crustaceans were expressly requested in all cases, the significantly cheaper shrimp ended up on the plate in all five cases.

The lab test

How could the testers be so sure? They sent a DNA analysis of each dish to an independent lab. The scientists found:

  • King prawns (scientific name Penaeus monodon) were served at the three Italian restaurants
  • Vapiano and Gosch passed off shrimp of the genus Litopenaeus vannamei (also known as white tiger shrimp) as scampi

Cheating is forbidden

In Germany, only two animal species may be sold as scampi: Metanephrops spp. and Nephrops norvegicus, also known as “Kaisergranat” in Germany.

The uncovered cheating should not be an isolated case. The Hamburg competition center announced that it wanted to take action against this practice based on the research by the NDR magazine. “If scampi are promised, scampi must also be on the plate,” quotes NDR Peter Brammer from the Hamburg competition center. According to Brammer, the Gosch restaurant is now threatened with a warning.

That’s what the restaurant owners say

While the Gosch company has remained silent, Vapiano has already reacted to the reporter’s research: They have changed the name scampi to gamberetti on all menus.

What is the difference between scampi and shrimp?

Scampi look like the lobster’s dainty little sister with their powerful claws and broad tail.

The shrimp is a different animal species, and the differences are also clear visually: shrimp only have antennae, no claws, and a much narrower tail.

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Food

Paleo Breakfast with Only 2 Ingredients

Paleo is on everyone’s lips. But what do you actually eat for breakfast in Stone Age diets when cereals are taboo? We have a great paleo breakfast recipe for you with just 2 ingredients.

We usually eat sandwiches or toast, porridge or cereal for breakfast. However, as part of a Paleo diet, these foods are taboo. But eating only omelets or scrambled eggs as an alternative is sure to get boring for Paleoans in the long run. With these great “muffins” there is variety on the table and on the menu. The ingenious thing: They consist of only two ingredients, are quick to make, and are 100 percent Paleo.

2-ingredient paleo breakfast

  • 1 medium sweet potato (washed and peeled)
  • 4 large eggs

Paleo breakfast: Here’s how

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease four wells of a muffin tin with coconut oil.
  2. Using a grater, finely grate the peeled sweet potato into a medium bowl. Then spread between the four muffin tins with your fingers and press down on the edges so that a crust can form.
  3. Bake the sweet potatoes in the oven for 5-8 minutes. Be careful not to turn them black.
  4. Carefully remove the muffin pan from the oven and crack an egg into each cup.
  5. Place the pan back in the oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until the egg whites are set.
  6. Allow the paleo muffins to cool before removing them from the pan.
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Food

7 Delicious Recipes with Apple Cinnamon

Especially when it gets colder outside again, the flavor combination of apple and cinnamon is very popular again. Whether cake, muffins or crumble – we have put together the 7 best creations with the aromatic fruit and spice mix for you. Enjoy browsing!

1. Off the roll

Delicate yeast dough, filled with sweet apple slices and aromatic cinnamon – you should immediately put the delicious apple and cinnamon roll on your to-bake list! Because the pastries taste good for breakfast, but also for coffee or as a sweet snack in between.

2. A real classic

That smells like childhood: Sweet apple pancakes with cinnamon fresh from the pan. Serve this sweet delicacy to the whole family – it’s guaranteed to be a hit!

3. Crunchy, crunchy, crumble!

Nothing beats a warming dessert on a cold day, don’t you think? This delicious mix with apple and cinnamon is just the thing: sweet fruits are refined with raisins and walnuts and baked with crispy crumbles.

4. Well wrapped

Grated apples, nuts, and cinnamon – wrapped in a juicy dough – what more could you ask for? You should definitely bake the spelled snails with apples and nuts!

5. Better than the original

Apple strudel is popular with everyone. Our variant with wholemeal flour, cranberries, and cinnamon is healthier than the classic – but of course at least as delicious!

6. Small and exquisite

Muffins always work! How about a version with apples and cinnamon today? The little cakes are topped with crunchy crumbles – you can’t say no, can you?

7. Fresh off the tin

Practical: You can easily prepare the delicious apple and walnut cake in large quantities – perfect if you are expecting guests. The mix with apple and cinnamon is perfected with crunchy walnuts and a chocolate batter.

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Food

Green Tea Loaded with Pollutants

For many people, enjoying green tea in the morning is simply part of starting the day. But together with the hot drink, not only the valuable ingredients of the leaves are absorbed, but also pollutants that are harmful to health. This is the result of the Stiftung Warentest.

Testing green tea

Stiftung Warentest examined a total of 25 types of green tea and examined them for possible harmful substances. The test included products in bags, capsules, and loose teas – nine of the 25 were organic products. The prices ranged from 87 cents to 83 euros per 100 grams.

The result

Seven of the tested products are so heavily contaminated with pollutants that they were only rated “poor”:

  • Aldi Sud/Westcliff Green Tea
  • Kaufland/K-Classic Green Tea
  • Penny/Mayfair Green Tea Natural
  • Norma/Cornwall Green Tea Natural
  • Messmer Finest Green Tea
  • Netto Marken-Discount/ Captains Tea Green tea based on Asian tradition
  • Chinese Green Tea CAP Special Gunpowder G 601

Seven other green teas were only rated “sufficient”. Five of the products in the test received the “good” award. Among them are three teas in a bag, one in a capsule, and one matcha. In the case of the loose green tea varieties, the best grade “satisfactory” was achieved. The exact placements can be found here.

Health hazards from pollutants in green tea?

According to Stiftung Warentest, however, there is no acute health risk. For lovers of green tea, however, the health risk from pollutants cannot be consistently ruled out. It only becomes critical if teas with a high level of pollution are drunk regularly. The substance pyrrolizidine alkaloid was found in nine of the 25 types of tea. This is considered potentially carcinogenic and can be completely transferred to the tea infusion – these types of tea should be avoided.

Tip: If you, as a tea fan, want to avoid excessive exposure to harmful substances, you should change the products regularly.

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Food

Champagne with Hearty Food

A glass of champagne is usually a toast on very special occasions. But the chilled sparkling wine is also extremely popular as a sparkling accompaniment to oysters, for example. However, champagne can also be served with hearty food and tastes excellent.

Serve champagne with a hearty meal

Full-bodied champagne varieties go great with hearty food such as red meat – and should not only be served with oysters. The varieties that shine in a yellow to red color are mostly made from red grapes. Since the champagne was only in contact with the dark grape skin for a very short time, you can’t see it, but it is noticeable in terms of taste.

The more base wine made from the red grapes, the more full-bodied the champagne tastes in the end. Therefore, it goes well with hearty and strong food.

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Food

Persimmon: Vitamins to Eat with a Spoon

The persimmons are in bright orange in the fruit department of the supermarkets. You should grab it the next time you go shopping because persimmons provide vitamin C – which strengthens the immune system. And best of all: the tropical fruits are easy to eat with a spoon!

Vanilla aroma ensures sweet enjoyment

Persimmons sweeten the winter for fruit lovers because they taste wonderfully sweet. No wonder: after all, tropical fruits contain up to 16 percent sugar. In addition, kakis score with a slight vanilla note, which makes them even more irresistible.

You can find kakis in the supermarket. There they shine – together with their new breed from Israel, the Sharon fruit – in bright orange. Persimmons can be eaten with or without the skin. Connoisseurs cut the fruit in halves and scoop them out that way.

That’s why persimmons are healthy!

The orange fruits are great suppliers of vitamins. They contain vitamin C and provitamin A. The latter ensures plump and radiant skin as well as healthy eyes and well-functioning cell protection. In addition, persimmons score with minerals such as potassium and phosphorus as well as phenolic compounds, which have an antioxidant effect.

Persimmon indulgence

In addition to enjoying the persimmons on their own, they can also be chopped into your morning muesli, yogurt, or smoothie. But the tropical fruits not only provide a great aroma in sweet dishes: Persimmons also taste great in savory dishes, such as in winter salads, with white or red cabbage, beetroot, and carrots. The fruit gives sauces and chutneys a great taste!

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Food

German Beer Contaminated with Glyphosate

Shocking news in the country of beer drinkers: The Munich Environmental Institute found the pesticide glyphosate in the 14 most drunk German beers

So much for the German Purity Law – in a test of the 14 most popular German beers, testers from the Munich Environmental Institute found the weed killer glyphosate in every sample.

According to the Environmental Institute, the values ​​found were between 0.46 micrograms per liter (µg/l) and 29.74 µg/l, in extreme cases almost 300 times the legal limit of 0.1 µg/l for drinking water. The testers found the most glyphosate in beer from the Hasseröder, Jever and Warsteiner brands, and the least in Augustiner, Franziskaner and Becks.

Which beers were tested?

The following beer brands were examined by the institute:

  • Krombacher
  • Oettinger
  • Bitburger
  • Veltina
  • Becks
  • Paulaner
  • Warsteiner
  • Hasseroder
  • Radeberger
  • Erdinger
  • Augustinian
  • Franciscan
  • king
  • ever

How does glyphosate get into beer?

Glyphosate is the most widely used weed killer in the world. It is also used in a basic ingredient of every beer, namely malt made from barley or wheat, according to the Environmental Institute “in large quantities”.

In the case of grain intended for brewing purposes, “the use of glyphosate to accelerate the ripening process shortly before harvest (…) is prohibited. (…) Stubble treatment, use after harvest and before sowing or until shortly after sowing, however, is permitted.”

How dangerous is glyphosate?

“In absolute numbers, the measured amounts of glyphosate are small,” says the environmental institute. There is no legal limit for the beer itself, only for its ingredients. Here, the values ​​measured by the institute are well below the limit values, for example for malt.

However, the authors of the environmental institute are of the opinion that weed killers have no place in beer, regardless of the concentration.

Experts are by no means clear about how dangerous glyphosate, which was developed by the Monsanto group in the 1970s, really is: while the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies it as “probably carcinogenic”, the experts at the EU Food Safety Authority (EFSA) consider it “probably not carcinogenic”. The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) also shares this opinion but continues to research the plant toxin.

Even if the concentration measured is small and the risk posed by glyphosate has not yet been clarified, the fact that a pesticide is found in a drink that is consumed so often should give us food for thought. As a consequence of the test results, the environmental institute has launched the “Glyphosate out of beer” initiative.

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Food

Crazy Trend: Bacon with Chocolate

Yes, really: Chocolate Bacon Barks are all the rage. How to make the chocolate bar with bacon and sea salt yourself.

Do you love bacon? Do you love chocolate? Then we have the perfect treat for you: a chocolate bar with crispy pieces of bacon and sea salt!

Sounds terrible? Yes, we thought so too when we stumbled across the keyword “Paleo Bacon Bark” on the Pinterest social network. Because even in the Paleo diet, the bacon chocolate bars are all the rage. Whether the Stone Age people sat by the fire and nibbled on chocolate bars with bacon is an open question; For those of you who are open to unusual taste experiences, we don’t want to withhold the recipe for the “Chocolate Bacon Bark”.

By the way, if you think a little longer about the bars made of bacon and chocolate, you will notice that the combination of chocolate and savory is not that unusual. Think chili con carne, traditionally topped with dark chocolate. Or Mexican chicken in chili chocolate sauce.

Make paleo bacon bark yourself

Ingredients

  • 100 grams of dark chocolate
  • a handful of chopped almonds
  • 2 tbsp crispy fried, degreased, and finely diced bacon
  • coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Preparation

  1. Chop the chocolate and melt in a water bath
  2. Add chopped almonds and bacon, reserving a teaspoon of bacon
  3. Pour the chocolate mixture into a casserole dish lined with baking paper
  4. When the mixture has set a little, sprinkle over the sea salt and the remaining bacon
  5. Put in the fridge for 2 hours
  6. Break the bacon chocolate into chunks

Enjoy your meal!

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IKEA Donuts Contaminated with Mineral Oil

According to Okotest, IKEA donuts are contaminated with mineral oil, and the sale of these products has already been stopped there. In total, donuts from 15 different suppliers were tested – with similar results. However, not all act as consistently as the furniture chain and pulled the donuts out of circulation.

IKEA donuts contaminated with mineral oil

Okotest examined donuts from 15 suppliers, including the donuts from the furniture chain IKEA. The goods concerned were rated “insufficient” by the organization because they had “high levels of potentially health-endangering mineral oils and fat pollutants”, according to Ökotest.

Ikea reacted: The affected donuts were withdrawn from sale. According to Ökotest, it was only four weeks after the test was published.

But what about the other 14 providers? Because all tested donuts were rated “unsatisfactory”. Although Foodwatch explains that “such complex problems as contamination with mineral oil and fat pollutants” cannot be solved immediately, they call for a ban on the sale of all contaminated products.

McDonald & Co. continues to sell contaminated donuts

The organization Foodwatch demanded that all 11 donut suppliers whose products had significantly increased amounts of mineral oil stop selling the contaminated products. But only IKEA followed this request. The other vendors responded vaguely or not at all to Foodwatch’s query.

These donut vendors and products were tested:

  1. IKEA: B&B Pinky Donuts, frozen
  2. Edeka: Good & cheap mini donuts 3 types, deep-frozen
  3. McDonald: Candy Donut, Chocolate Donut
  4. Baked goods: baked goods pinkie donuts, chocolate donuts, white donuts,
  5. Dunkin’ Donuts: Sugar, Strawberry Frosted, Chocolate Frosted
  6. Re: Rewe Beste Wahl Mini Donuts Three different varieties, deep-frozen
  7. Tasty Donuts: Tasty Donuts Blacky, Classic, Raspberry Kiss, loose
  8. Le Crobag: Sugared donut
  9. Globus: The Simpsons Donuts Pink Glazed 4-Pack
  10. Real: Real Home Bakery Sugared Donuts, Pack of 4
  11. Happy Donazz: Classic Chocolate, Homer’s Donut, Rainbow
  12. Backstube Kaufland: Pinkie donut with sprinkles,
  13. Bakery Net: Pinky Donut
  14. Poppies: Poppies Trio Mini Donuts, frozen
  15. Lidl: Chocolate donut, go

Mineral oil pollution

The mineral oils usually get into the food via waste paper packaging. This could be prevented by a so-called “functional barrier”, such as a separate inner bag or a layer integrated into the carton.

Mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) is extremely harmful to humans. MOSH accumulate in the organs and can damage them. MOAH is suspected of being carcinogenic and can damage the genetic material.

Foodwatch has launched an email campaign demanding fixed limit values ​​for mineral oil in food and the “functional barrier”. This is intended to prevent future food contamination with mineral oil. You can sign the campaign here.

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Berries, Peppers & Kiwi Contaminated with Pesticides

Berries are a great refreshment in summer and so healthy – if they are not contaminated with pesticide residues. Unfortunately, the colorful minis regularly exceed the maximum residue levels of pesticides that are set for them. However, the berries are not alone in this, as the current shopping basket monitoring shows.

Shopping cart monitoring from 2014

The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has now published the current report of the “National Report on Pesticide Residues in Food 2014”. From this, it can be seen, among other things, that the quota for exceeding the maximum content of pesticide residues in German products has risen slightly to 1.9 percent.

Exceeding the limit values ​​detected

However, there are differences in the foods affected, as the BVL President Dr. Helmut Tschiersky explains: “While there have been hardly any or no limit value violations for some crops such as asparagus, headed cabbage, and pears for years, other crops such as soft fruit or peppers can always be found in the list of crops with the most exceedances.”

In 2014 blackberries, with an exceedance rate of 10.8 percent, and raspberries, with a rate of 6.5 percent, were particularly negative when it came to exceeding the maximum values ​​for pesticide residues. The berries are closely followed by mangoes (8.3 percent exceeding), tea (7.0 percent exceeding), and kale (6.5 percent exceeding).

A wide variety of pesticide residues were also found in the otherwise rather inconspicuous pumpkin (5.2 percent exceedances) as part of the shopping basket monitoring in 2014. Kiwis were just as conspicuous, with 2.2 percent exceeding the limit value. “Solutions have to be found for these crops that can reduce the burden,” says Tschiersky.

Contamination of food

In 2014, around 19,500 food samples were examined for pesticide residues in the laboratories for the purpose of shopping basket monitoring, and more than 5.8 million analysis results were generated.

Conspicuous foods from the previous year’s investigations are examined more frequently and with a larger number of samples in the following. As a result, the find of pesticide residues is disproportionately large. The average contamination of products with too high a residue level is therefore significantly lower.

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