I read about apples exported from China, covered in a toxic paint so they look red and beautiful, even though it is harmful, all to make a buck. I just wonder why humans have not evolved to, at a minimum, actually show some caring attitude toward others of their same species.
Humans are capable of both wonderful and terrible things. We're letting the ones who are willing to do terrible things for personal gain run wild with little accountability.
What is worse? The people doing that harm at least do it for personal gain. But the rest of the "bystanders" actively avoid taking action or raising any alarms because they "don't want to be that guy"....
No, we're fine. Malice is surprisingly rare, but people will cut corners to make a buck. Effective regulation makes cutting corners more expensive than doing things the right way.
Most western consumers have a justifiable trust in the food they eat. They walk into the supermarket, load up their trolley and don't give a moment's thought to whether their meat is tainted, their milk is watered down or their flour is bulked out with chalk. They don't worry about whether their candy has been dyed with toxic cadmium or cobalt pigments. They don't worry about whether their wine has been sweetened with lead acetate. They know that food is being rigorously monitored for safety throughout the supply chain, because the cost to a business of non-compliance can be catastrophic.
European consumers often worry about "e-number" additives in their food, but the entire point is that e-numbers are given to additives that have been rigorously tested for safety. I don't have the first idea what dodecyl gallate is, but I know that E313 is safe to eat.
Red apples usually are coated in ground up beetle to give the bright redness colour. It’s considered non toxic. Donno if that’s the same as what you’re referring to. I think it’s called Shellac.
Shellac is a colourless or amber substance, derived from a secretion of the lac beetle. It's used as a coating on many food products (including apples and citrus fruits) to inhibit moisture loss and enhance shine.
Cochineal is an insect-derived red food dye, but I haven't heard of it being used to colour apples. It's often labelled as carmine or natural red 4.
reminds me of the story where a chinese plastic factory created lots of small white pellets and sold them as rice, making a fortune. (might be wrong on the factory detail, but the plastic rice definitely happened)
Urban legend--some combination of plastic pellets for another purpose (injection molding, or fake rice for Japan-style food models) getting misinterpreted as fraud, and/or deliberate misinformation.
I think we're all doomed.