(♪)
>> Erica: Tonight,
on Marketplace...
>> It's a guessing game here,
how would anyone know?
>> Erica: A shopping trip you
won't want to miss.
We put the food you eat every
day to the test.
What do you mean by
profiteering?
>> People who are engaging in
food fraud.
>> Erica: Question what you
buy, and buy into, when it
comes to filling the cart.
>> This was living inside of
me.
>> Erica: We're about to
reveal food secrets
that just may change
the way you eat for good.
>> Now you're really
freaking me out.
(♪)
>> Erica: Ready to go shopping?
>> Sure am.
>> Erica: We're picking up a
few groceries.
(♪)
>> Just going to grab
a couple of those.
>> Erica: Teaming up with
Maria Lianos-Carbone.
She's a mom, Marketplace
viewer, and writes a lifestyle
blog.
>> Okay.
Let me grab a cauliflower.
>> Erica: Maria tries hard
to make healthy choices.
But that's sometimes easier
said than done.
We've taken popular items you
buy every week to the lab and
uncovered food secrets we're
about to share.
(♪)
>> Erica: First item on
Maria's grocery list, fish.
This all looks liket, fish.
it's fresh filet.
Maria looks for wild salmon
'cause she's heard it's better
than farmed.
>> I think I'm probably
going to buy wild salmon
or wild sole.
>> Erica: But once you remove
the skin and fillet a fish --
>> Let's check out some of the
labels here and see what we
can see.
>> Erica -- it can be pretty
hard to tell what's what.
>> This is Atlantic salmon.
I'm guessing that is probably
farmed.
>> Erica: So how much can you
trust those labels?
To find out, we put fish from
the grocery store to the test.
Over 150 pieces.
Prepped them in the
 Marketplace kitchen, then
sent them to the University of
Guelph.
>> Here are some of the samples
that we received from you.
>> Erica: Biologist Robert
Hanner helps develop a method
to genetically identify fish.
He can tell us if the fish we
paid for is really the fish we
got.
And what did he find?
>> Consumers are definitely
being ripped off.
>> Erica: Out of the 153
samples tested, more than one
fifth were mislabeled.
Ranging from some labeling
technicalities to the wrong
fish altogether.
With the cod, you tested it.
We thought it was cod.
What did it turn out to be?
>> Well, we found both haddock
and pollock being substitutedk
for cod in the market.
>> Erica: And the price
difference?
Fillet of cod goes for about
$7.99 a pound, but get this,
pollock, only $4.99.
And if you buy your fish with
sustainability in mind --
>> The label just says shark
steak, and it actually turned
out to be sandbar shark.
What's the problem with that?
>> Well, the problem is that
the sandbar shark is a
threatened species that is not
supposed to be in our food
chain here in Canada.
>> Erica: Turns out it's not
on the list of approved fish
to sell in Canada.
>> I would say rather weak
legislation that doesn't
punish people who substitute
one fillet for another
have driven profiteering
in this area.
>> Erica: What do you mean
by profiteering?
>> Well, people who are
engaging in food fraud.
>> Erica: What do you think
about the fact that you could
be buying something and paying
for something that you're not
actually getting?
>> That's terrible.
I want to be able to trust
in the label and know
what I'm buying.
>> Erica: As for Maria's choice
to buy wild salmon, our results
expose problems there, too.
One of our tests was labeled
as Pacific salmon and when
you tested it, you found it
was what?
>> Well, we found it farmed
Atlantic salmon and
in some cases --
>> Erica: Farmed?
>> Yeah.
>> Erica: Not wild
Pacific salmon.
>> Not wild, no, and Atlantic
salmon is often substituted in
for wild Pacific salmon.
>> Erica: So our first food
secret revealed.
The fish you buy may not be
the fish you get.
>> Erica: You're making a choice
and yet it turns out that
choice may not be accurate.
>> Right, I'm trying to make a
healthier choice and if I'm
thinking I'm buying it but I'm
really not, yeah, that's gonna
really upset me.
>> Erica: That's why other
countries are using DNA
testing to prevent fish fraud
but in Canada, we're not doing
enough, says Hanner.
>> It is disappointing that it
was developed here in Canada
and hasn't become part of our
policy first.
>> Erica: We asked Health
Canada for an interview to ask
what's being done to fix all
this mislabeling.
All we get is a statement
saying "the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency is
developing a plan to verify
that fish in the marketplace
is appropriately labeled."
So you going to
grab some fish?
>> Yeah, I'm going to get this
this wild salmon.
>> Erica: Okay, let's hope
that's what it is.
(♪)
>> Erica: Next up on Maria's
shopping trip, beef.
We sure eat a lot of it.
About a pound a week each.
Okay, what kind of beef do you
like to buy?
>> My husband really likes
steak so I tend to buy T-bone
or strip sirloin.
>> Erica: How does your
husband like it cooked?
>> Just on the grill.
>> Erica: How does that look?
>> Yeah, these are good.
>> Erica: But it's what Maria
can't see that we're about to
shine a light on in our next
food secrets.
(♪)
>> Erica: For that, my co-host
Tom Harrington.
>> Where's the beef?
In the box.
>> Erica: Teams up with food
safety expert Rick Holley at
the University of Manitoba.
>> What do you think,
is this going to do?
>> Oh, absolutely.
This will just be fine.
>> Erica: Fine for a piece of
equipment used in processing a
lot of the beef we eat.
Something called a mechanical
tenderizer.
>> Okay.
We're in business.
>> Erica: Needles inside this
machine are used to penetrate
deep into the meat, make our
steaks and roasts more tender
but this microbiologist says
that process also increases
the chances of making us sick.
So how risky is it?
>> We're going to massage
the meat, are we?
>> Yes, we are.
>> Erica: We started by
slathering the beef with a
special orange dye.
>> So the orange gel here is
essentially replicating
E. Coli sitting on the surface
of the meat.
>> Exactly so.
>> Erica: In the dark, this
gel will show up anywhere it's
spread.
>> Let us feed the beast.
(♪)
>> That's good, Tom.
>> Erica: The needle marks
soon disappear but we'll still
see any gel that gets pushed
inside.
>> Turn the lights out, please.
>> Look at that.
So we're in there --
two centimetres, three
centimetres.
>> Erica: Scary enough seeing
gel pushed into the meat.
And when we repeated the test
using real E. Coli?
10% made it deep inside.
>> Is that enough to make
somebody sick?
>> I would have to say it
probably would be.
>> Erica: In our test, we also
discovered you have to cook
your steak to at least
medium-well to kill any E. Coli
inside.
>> Do you think people cook
their steaks long enough to
kill E. Coli let's say in that
amount inside a steak?
>> I don't.
>> Erica: And that's our next
food secret.
Your beef may be mechanically
tenderized and needs to be
cooked to at least 71 degrees.
(♪)
>> Erica: Sure not common
knowledge.Sure not common
>> Canadian consumers continue
to be our top priority.
>> Erica: Which is why federal
Minister of Agriculture Gerry
Ritz promised to introduce
labels for tenderized beef.
Back at the grocery store,
Maria and I look for any sign
of labels.
>> Do you see anything here
that says tenderized?
Nothing there, just the price,
the weight.
It's a guessing game here.
How would anybody know?
>> Erica: No labels to be
found, and when we check more
than 20 grocery stores across
the country...
>> Doesn't say.
>> Erica: We only find one
with the right label at a
Toronto Fresh Co.
So, there's a good chance
that something here has gone
through that process.
And you have no idea.
>> It's annoying because I
want to know what I'm eating,
and I'm just -- like there's
always something coming up
that, you know, makes me
question the food industry.
>> Erica: Health Canada
won't talk on camera
about this one either.
Instead, they E-mail, "Health
Canada plans to begin
consulting with Canadians in
the coming months."
And that new labeling
requirements should be
initiated in 2014.
So since most tenderized beef
has no labels, we designed one
of our own.
What do you think if we just
stuck that right there?
This meat has been
mechanically tenderized and
you should cook it to a
minimum of 71 degrees.
Wasn't hard to come up with.
But Canadians, it seems, will
have to wait.
When we come back.
>> Mommy, what's for dinner
tonight?
>> Erica: The safest way
to make your family's
favourite meal.
And a popular lunch meat comes
clean or does it?
>> That does surprise me
actually.
(♪)
(♪)
>> Erica: We're cruising the
grocery store, revealing
secrets behind some of the
familiar foods you put in your
cart.
Helping us out, "Marketplace"
viewer Maria Lianos-Carbone.
Next on her list, chicken.
Do you guys eat a lot of
chicken at home?
>> We do.
I try to mix it up.
>> Erica: Chicken is the most
popular meat in Canada so
farmers want to grow them big,
fast.
>> I often wonder with larger
ones what they're feeding the
chickens to make them grow so
big so fast.
>> Erica: So you're concerned
about what they might be
getting as they're being
raised?
>> Right.
>> Erica: And when we reveal
our next food secret, she may
be even more concerned.
All done.
But first, back to Maria's.
(♪)
>> Mommy, what's for dinner
tonight?
>> Erica: Maria is extra
careful when she preps chicken
because she knows bugs like
salmonella can make you sick
but she doesn't know just how
sick.
At McMaster Hospital in
Hamilton, we meet up with a
guy who found that out the
hard way.
>> I'm a pretty healthy guy,
I'm in good shape, I exercise
and I do all the sort of right
things and this hit me really
hard.
>> Erica: Gerry Wright was
sick from food poisoning for
months.
I.V. antibiotics weren't
working.
>> I guess about 24 hours
after I was at the hospital,
they called me up to tell me,
guess what, you have
salmonella growing in your
blood stream and this is why
you're so sick.
>> Erica: Turns out he'd been
infected with a strain of
salmonella resistant to
antibiotics.
A superbug.
How serious is that?
>> Well, you can die from
sepsis.
>> Erica: So why are bugs like
this becoming resistant?
Because farmers give the same
antibiotics we use to animals
like chickens to prevent
disease and to make them grow
bigger faster.
The problem is the more drugs
used, the more resistant the
bacteria chickens gets,
turning them into superbugs.
To find out how often these
superbugs end up on grocery
store chicken, "Marketplace"
put that to the test, too.
>> Chicken legs, perfect.
>> Erica: Bought a hundred
samples of chicken and took
them to the lab for analysis.
What we found, two-thirds had
at least one superbug.
Get sick from one of them,
some antibiotics may not work.
>> After you.
>> Erica: Gerry Wright says our
test results should be a
real wake-up call, and he
would know.
Not only did he get sick from
one of these bugs,
he's also the head of
infectious disease research at
McMaster University.
This was in your blood stream.
>> This was living inside of
me, yes.
>> Erica: Stronger antibiotics
helped Wright pull through,
but he worries we're running
out of options.
>> It's the bugs against the
drugs, and the bugs are
winning.
>> Erica: And worse news.
Recent studies show the number
of some superbugs on chicken
is on the rise.
So take note of our next food
secret.
Your chicken may be
contaminated with superbugs.
>> Honestly, I thought
our food industry
was a lot better here.
>> Erica: I was watching you
prepare your chicken today.
How confident are you that you
didn't get cross-contamination
anywhere?
>> Um, I usually am pretty
good with that,
I think, anyway.
>> Erica: So, what will she
think of our next test when we
ask two volunteers to do the
same thing Maria just did,
cook some chicken?
>> I'm going to grab some
chicken here.
>> Erica: But this time under
the watchful eye of UBC food
microbiologist Kevin Allen who
first covered the chicken in
that special gel.
To see what gets contaminated.
>> There we go.
>> Erica: Okay.
The volunteers got cooking.
>> So thinking that we'll
maybe bake these and maybe
we'll do a little stir fry.
>> Erica: Baking the chicken
will kill any superbugs but we
turned off the lights to see
if contamination from the raw
chicken had spread.
First, Allen checked the
frying pan.
>> It's actually quite
intense.
>> Erica: Then the bowl.
The tea towel and their hands.
>> We can see some of the
contamination.
>> Crazy.
>> Erica: Contamination from
the chicken showed up even
though our volunteer washed
her hands three times.
>> Is it still live bacteria?
>> Still contagious for
months.
>> How confident are you
now that your kitchen
would be okay if we
turned out the lights?
>> No, no, I would have to
clean and scrub everything
again.
>> Erica: Because these germs
spread so easily, we want to
know what Health Canada is
doing to fight the rise of
superbugs.
They tell us they're actively
working to promote
anti-microbial stewardship.
And the chicken farmers of
Canada, they say they're
working to control, monitor,
and reduce anti-microbial use
in chicken farming.
Coming up, why you'll want to
take a closer look at your
sandwich meat.
>> So why do they hide that?
(♪)
(♪)
>> Erica: We're putting some of
the most popular foods we
eat to the test.
Revealing food secrets some
might prefer you might not
know.
The final item to pick up,
deli meat.
>> I'll probably buy something,
the Natural Selections.
>> When Maria gives her family
cold cuts, she opts for what
she thinks is a healthier
choice.
Maple Leaf's Natural
Selections brand.
>> Turkey with natural
ingredients, no preservatives
added.
>> Erica: No preservatives
sounds good to her because she
wants to avoid nitrites, a
common preservative.
And no wonder, nitrites may be
one reason deli meats have
been linked to cancer.
Important to Maria 'cause what
she buys here...
(♪)
>> Okay, I'm going to make
you some turkey sandwiches
for tomorrow.
>> Okay.
>> Erica: Goes in her
children's lunches here.
At first glance, the deli meat
Maria bought appears to be
preservative-free, but hmm,
look closer.
Beyond those
naturally-occurring
preservatives and nitrites in
the ingredients ...
Yep, see that simple-sounding
ingredient, cultured celery
extract?
It's actually a nitrite by
another name.
But do people get that?
Not most of these shoppers.
>> My exception is they would
be -- try to suggest that this
is better for you.
>> I looked at the cultural
celery extract and I figured,
okay, dehydrated celery, not
too bad.
>> I think it's misleading.
>> Erica: And that's our final
food secret.
All packaged deli meats have
preservatives.
You're a savvy shopper, you
read labels and even this
wasn't clear to you.
>> Yeah, it definitely went
under the radar for me.
>> Erica: You feel deceived?
>> Yeah, I do.
>> Erica: Maple Leaf tells us
they provide information so
that consumers can purchase
foods that is right for them.
But changes may be coming.
We learn the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency is reviewing
the use of certain claims on
deli meats made with the
cultured celery ingredient.
So until things change, some
survival guide tips for your
next grocery trip.
Watch out for tricky labels.
Making chicken?
Cook thoroughly and wash up
well to avoid the spread of
bugs.
And ask if the beef you're
buying has been tenderized.
If so, cook it at least
medium-well.
>> Do you want ketchup for your
chicken?
>> Erica: Our food secrets leave
our "Marketplace" shopper armed
for her next grocery shop but
frustrated.
>> I mean, I shouldn't have to
worry so much about, you know,
what I'm feeding my family.
>> Can we eat now?
>> It should be a lot more
than it is today.
(♪)
