Daniel Loxton 🇨🇦
@danielloxton.bsky.social
Author, illustrator, and researcher of misinformation and fringe claims. Former Editor (2002–2021) of Junior Skeptic, and author of Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be and other science books for kids and adults. https://www.danielloxton.com
Ha, look at that: Costco carries the olive oil I have in my cupboard, the labeling of which suggests it’s more or less legit (not pretending to be from Italy, with individual lot tracking to [claimed] source orchards available, plus legit-sounding certifications)
November 28, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Ha, look at that: Costco carries the olive oil I have in my cupboard, the labeling of which suggests it’s more or less legit (not pretending to be from Italy, with individual lot tracking to [claimed] source orchards available, plus legit-sounding certifications)
Industry isn’t helpless before fraud, and lots of levels have incentives in this regulatory and marketing environment to support good practices in labeling and certifications. At the end of the day though, a safe and fair food system is built on a foundation of regulation, testing, & law enforcement
November 28, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Industry isn’t helpless before fraud, and lots of levels have incentives in this regulatory and marketing environment to support good practices in labeling and certifications. At the end of the day though, a safe and fair food system is built on a foundation of regulation, testing, & law enforcement
I just checked my olive oil in the cupboard, which I bought in frustration with all the various labels and origin claims. This product is labeled as “produced on our farms in Tunisia” and has a QR code where you can enter the lot number and get orchard locations, pressing & testing dates. Good signs
November 28, 2025 at 3:24 AM
I just checked my olive oil in the cupboard, which I bought in frustration with all the various labels and origin claims. This product is labeled as “produced on our farms in Tunisia” and has a QR code where you can enter the lot number and get orchard locations, pressing & testing dates. Good signs
Costco has a good rep, though I can’t speak to their olive oil off the top of my head. A lot of the time big reputable chains have a better lock on suppliers, seafood certifications, etc. (It’s local nice restaurants that are most likely to swap fish, since you can’t really tell from your plate)
November 28, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Costco has a good rep, though I can’t speak to their olive oil off the top of my head. A lot of the time big reputable chains have a better lock on suppliers, seafood certifications, etc. (It’s local nice restaurants that are most likely to swap fish, since you can’t really tell from your plate)
A lot of honey is adulterated with corn syrup or other cheaper sweeteners, especially if imported under vague origin labels. In other cases, it’s genuine honey, but ultra filtered (of pollen etc) to conceal a mislabeled country of origin
November 28, 2025 at 3:11 AM
A lot of honey is adulterated with corn syrup or other cheaper sweeteners, especially if imported under vague origin labels. In other cases, it’s genuine honey, but ultra filtered (of pollen etc) to conceal a mislabeled country of origin
*I mean, "farmed salmon sold as wild"
Olive oil's kind of a gong show. It's hard to know what the hell you're getting—sometimes different grades, sometimes adulterated with completely different oils, sometimes spoiled, etc. (Watch for tricky "bottled in [country]" or "imported from" on the label)
Olive oil's kind of a gong show. It's hard to know what the hell you're getting—sometimes different grades, sometimes adulterated with completely different oils, sometimes spoiled, etc. (Watch for tricky "bottled in [country]" or "imported from" on the label)
November 28, 2025 at 2:57 AM
*I mean, "farmed salmon sold as wild"
Olive oil's kind of a gong show. It's hard to know what the hell you're getting—sometimes different grades, sometimes adulterated with completely different oils, sometimes spoiled, etc. (Watch for tricky "bottled in [country]" or "imported from" on the label)
Olive oil's kind of a gong show. It's hard to know what the hell you're getting—sometimes different grades, sometimes adulterated with completely different oils, sometimes spoiled, etc. (Watch for tricky "bottled in [country]" or "imported from" on the label)
If you're curious what foods are still commonly plagued by fraud in western markets today, they include fish (especially in restaurants, and *especially* sushi!), olive oil, honey, and saffron. Common substitutions include origin (farmed salmon sold as fresh) and species (escolar for tuna etc)
November 28, 2025 at 2:49 AM
If you're curious what foods are still commonly plagued by fraud in western markets today, they include fish (especially in restaurants, and *especially* sushi!), olive oil, honey, and saffron. Common substitutions include origin (farmed salmon sold as fresh) and species (escolar for tuna etc)
If you cook with pepper, that used to be almost universally adulterated with cheaper plant matter, clay—and very often lead! Mustard? Tests for the Lancet found *every* mustard sample heavily adulterated, as was almost every sample of cayenne (half contained lead). Curry powder was 4/5 adulterated
November 28, 2025 at 2:39 AM
If you cook with pepper, that used to be almost universally adulterated with cheaper plant matter, clay—and very often lead! Mustard? Tests for the Lancet found *every* mustard sample heavily adulterated, as was almost every sample of cayenne (half contained lead). Curry powder was 4/5 adulterated
The natural default state for food, beverages, and medicine is ubiquitous adulteration of, and frequent danger from, any product anyone can buy. It took centuries of activism, science, and sprawling legal and legislative battles to get to this place where most products are what they say on the label
November 28, 2025 at 2:29 AM
The natural default state for food, beverages, and medicine is ubiquitous adulteration of, and frequent danger from, any product anyone can buy. It took centuries of activism, science, and sprawling legal and legislative battles to get to this place where most products are what they say on the label
It would be awesome if we could stop re-inventing every awful thing from the past, unlearning every brutal lesson, dismantling every hard-won solution
November 28, 2025 at 2:24 AM
It would be awesome if we could stop re-inventing every awful thing from the past, unlearning every brutal lesson, dismantling every hard-won solution
But captive markets served by low bid such as prisons and orphanages are always at extra risk. The founder of the Lancet was coroner in a then-infamous 1850 case in which around 180 poor orphans died after eating a diet of adulterated gruel and rotten potatoes (a case covered by Charles Dickens)
November 28, 2025 at 2:19 AM
But captive markets served by low bid such as prisons and orphanages are always at extra risk. The founder of the Lancet was coroner in a then-infamous 1850 case in which around 180 poor orphans died after eating a diet of adulterated gruel and rotten potatoes (a case covered by Charles Dickens)
The only alternative to widespread food fraud and dangerous adulteration anyone’s ever discovered is to make laws and then enforce them with regular inspections and penalties. Not even being rich protects against food fraud (if anything the incentives to fraud are higher selling luxury products)
November 28, 2025 at 1:48 AM
The only alternative to widespread food fraud and dangerous adulteration anyone’s ever discovered is to make laws and then enforce them with regular inspections and penalties. Not even being rich protects against food fraud (if anything the incentives to fraud are higher selling luxury products)
That’s terribly sad and tragic
November 28, 2025 at 1:41 AM
That’s terribly sad and tragic
In 1992, another cougar was tranquilized in the parking garage of the historic Empress Hotel! In recent years, a marmot’s been happily living in the gardens at the Empress, and he’s not even a species we have here on Vancouver island. Nobody knows exactly how he got there and made himself at home
November 27, 2025 at 11:16 PM
In 1992, another cougar was tranquilized in the parking garage of the historic Empress Hotel! In recent years, a marmot’s been happily living in the gardens at the Empress, and he’s not even a species we have here on Vancouver island. Nobody knows exactly how he got there and made himself at home
By coincidence, another shepherd I knew was part of a camping group—not in sheep camp, but in the off season, on a small island off the coast of Vancouver Island—that was attacked by a wolf. That almost never happens! The wolf dragged a man in his sleeping bag, attacked when he woke up. Freak event
November 27, 2025 at 10:50 PM
By coincidence, another shepherd I knew was part of a camping group—not in sheep camp, but in the off season, on a small island off the coast of Vancouver Island—that was attacked by a wolf. That almost never happens! The wolf dragged a man in his sleeping bag, attacked when he woke up. Freak event
That was frightening, but fine actually? The bear was cool, we sidled out of there and quickly found the sheep, and we got a great story out of it. But we’d been lying there unconscious like a couple food platters on a buffet table. If the bear’s motivations had been different, boom, freak tragedy
November 27, 2025 at 10:31 PM
That was frightening, but fine actually? The bear was cool, we sidled out of there and quickly found the sheep, and we got a great story out of it. But we’d been lying there unconscious like a couple food platters on a buffet table. If the bear’s motivations had been different, boom, freak tragedy
Like, we used to nap with the sheep in the afternoons when they settled to snooze & ruminate. We were constantly sleep deprived, and once woke up to find the flock gone. I fumbled for my glasses, thinking I saw a group of sheep—but nope, it was a curious grizzly bear maybe 50 feet away! Woke up fast
November 27, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Like, we used to nap with the sheep in the afternoons when they settled to snooze & ruminate. We were constantly sleep deprived, and once woke up to find the flock gone. I fumbled for my glasses, thinking I saw a group of sheep—but nope, it was a curious grizzly bear maybe 50 feet away! Woke up fast
I heard about this tragic attack in Bella Coola from my old shepherding colleague Jolene when she phoned earlier today. Of course we were reminded of our own grizzly encounters back in the day, but also of chance. If humans have enough encounters with wildlife, you will get one-in-a-million events
November 27, 2025 at 10:24 PM
I heard about this tragic attack in Bella Coola from my old shepherding colleague Jolene when she phoned earlier today. Of course we were reminded of our own grizzly encounters back in the day, but also of chance. If humans have enough encounters with wildlife, you will get one-in-a-million events
Thank you! Like a lot of aging people, I love to tell stories of my adventurous youth, and shepherding was a huge part of my life—but I’m also a bit aware that I’m an aging person telling stories of my adventurous youth
November 27, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Thank you! Like a lot of aging people, I love to tell stories of my adventurous youth, and shepherding was a huge part of my life—but I’m also a bit aware that I’m an aging person telling stories of my adventurous youth
Andor, Nolan’s Dark Knight, World War Z (book)—idunno how many triumphs it takes to demonstrate the power of “what if we took these kinda goofy ideas seriously?”
November 27, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Andor, Nolan’s Dark Knight, World War Z (book)—idunno how many triumphs it takes to demonstrate the power of “what if we took these kinda goofy ideas seriously?”
It was kind of an interesting take, but almost completely unrelated to the book, which was also better
November 27, 2025 at 10:06 PM
It was kind of an interesting take, but almost completely unrelated to the book, which was also better
We also relied (more than is comfortable to recall) on being in our 20s and immortal, not just about bears, but about our general circumstances working in isolation in the remote wilderness. I would carry bear spray now, if I went back to that work, and make other safety changes besides
November 27, 2025 at 10:00 PM
We also relied (more than is comfortable to recall) on being in our 20s and immortal, not just about bears, but about our general circumstances working in isolation in the remote wilderness. I would carry bear spray now, if I went back to that work, and make other safety changes besides
I’ve never actually deployed a bear deterrent like bear spray or bear bangers against a bear, and have only once or twice fired gunshots to alert bears of my presence (long story). We relied on numbers (we walked with 1500 sheep), bear sense (whistling, sight lines etc) and patrolling guardian dogs
November 27, 2025 at 9:56 PM
I’ve never actually deployed a bear deterrent like bear spray or bear bangers against a bear, and have only once or twice fired gunshots to alert bears of my presence (long story). We relied on numbers (we walked with 1500 sheep), bear sense (whistling, sight lines etc) and patrolling guardian dogs