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Frozen rotten meat - According to the NBC online edition, in 2015 Chinese police launched an operation to take down meat traffickers. Several kilos of meat were found, some of which dated back to 1970.

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Successful sales - According to Fox News, the start-up Hampton Creek, maker of vegan mayonnaise called Just Mayo, inflated the sales of their product. The company bought numerous units of the product, making investors think that the sales were better than they really were.

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Controversial doughnuts - In England, the Krispy Kreme doughnut chain had to apologize due to a campaign promoting "KKK Wednesday." The Ks stood for Krispy Kreme Klub but they were immediately confused with the Ku Klux Klan hate group. The company apologized for the mistake.

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Mysterious meat - KFC suffered a huge setback in China when it was discovered the meat they used was supplied by Shanghai Husi Food Co. This company used meat which had fallen on the ground, as well as mixing fresh meat with other out-of-date meat.

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Radioactive oatmeal - According to The New York Times, participants in a study discovered that, unknown to them, they were fed radioactive Quaker Oats. The studies were carried out in the 1950s and the participants received millions of dollars in compensation.

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Horse meat - According to USA Today, traces of horse meat were discovered in the meat used by Burger King. When this was revealed, the restaurant chain immediately broke ties with their supplier.

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Lead noodles - According to Fortune, Maggi noodles' business was booming in India, until a report came to light accusing the brand of using an excessive amount of lead. It resulted in the loss of millions of dollars.

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Soy chicken - According to the Fox News online edition, a study carried out by a Canadian organization concluded that the chicken meat used in Subway restaurants contained just 50% chicken DNA. Investigators discovered Subway restaurants were using soy to make up the other 50%.

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Weird meat - According to ABC News, the meat used by Taco Bell contained just 88% meat.

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Controversial advertising - According to The Express Tribune, when the Hardee's chain of restaurants arrived in Pakistan in 2009, they launched an ad campaign featuring a woman grabbing two bread buns. The controversy arose because the picture was made to look like the woman was grabbing a butt.

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Contaminated wheat - In 1971 the Middle East was going through a drought, which meant that Iraq had to import wheat from Mexico. Unfortunately this wheat contained a mercury-based fungus. The product arrived late and cultivators gave it to animals and children. Nearly 500 people died and thousands suffered brain damage.

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Paprika with lead - According to the LA Times, nearly 50 people in Hungary were admitted to the hospital after ingesting paprika containing lead. Apparently the lead was used to make the paprika more appealing to the eye.

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Shiny meat - According to the Daily Mail, a man in China discovered that the pork he had at home glowed in the dark. Investigators confirmed that it may have been due to the pig being fed a large amount of phosphorous.

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Juice replaced by water - According to The New York Times, in 1987 it was found that the brand Beech-Nut was selling an apple juice for babies, but turned out to be nothing more than water with sugar. They were fined two million dollars.

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Olive oil fraud - According to Mother Jones magazine, traffickers in the Mediterranean were diluting olive oil with sunflower oil and selling it as extra-virgin olive oil.

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Chicken with water - According to The Guardian, some big supermarkets such as Aldi and Asda were selling chicken breasts pumped full of water and additives.

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Cumin replaced with nuts - According to the Huffington Post, a food agency discovered that cumin with traces of nuts were being sold on the shelves of UK supermarkets.

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Bottled tap water - According to a 2012 article from the Daily Mail online edition, some big supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda were selling bottled tap water.

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Rat meat - According to The New York Times, a gang of traffickers in China were selling "lamb," which was really rat meat. The meat was dipped in gelatin, red food dye, and nitrates before being sold to the public.

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Fake eggs for sale - According to the online edition of Time magazine, in 2012 there were many people in China selling eggs at a lower price than supermarkets. This eggs turned out to be fake, and made out of a mold, filled with resin, starch and pigments.

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Mad Cow Disease - This disease was discovered at the end of the 1980s. Since then restrictions have been put in place and various cases of the disease have been discovered. For several years it was forbidden to import meat from the United Kingdom when it was discovered the disease could be transmitted to humans as Creutzfeldt Jakob disease.

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Mud pepper - According to The Global Times, in China a man was selling fake pepper. The black pepper was made of mud and the white made of flour.

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Explosive watermelons - According to the online edition of The Guardian, a farmer was using a chemical to speed up the growth of his watermelon crop in China. They exploded like they were bombs. The growth accelerator was deemed unsuitable to be used in watermelons.

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Meat-flavored fries - According to CBS News, a few vegetarians sued McDonald's for using meat flavoring on their fries.

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See also - Weird and disgusting things people have found in their food.

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