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American cheese isn't cheese - Despite its name, the sliced, individually wrapped, bright-orange cheese of your youth is only a "cheese product." According to Serious Eats, it's made by "blending real cheese with texture- and flavor-altering ingredients."

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Bacon bits aren't meat - The store-bought meaty bits sprinkled over salads and pastas are actually not meat. According to Business Insider, they're made of soy protein, canola oil, and artificial colors and flavors. If you look closely, they're marketed as bacon-flavored to avoid legal issues.

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Popcorn butter isn't butter - Movie theater popcorn butter is actually a combination of hydrogenated soybean oil (a trans fat) and chemicals that give off a buttery taste and that yellow color. It's also way worse for you than butter!

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Honey isn't so sweet - According to research published in the Journal for Food Science, that amber-filled squeeze bottle might actually be partly high-fructose corn syrup that has deceivingly been added to cut the amount of actual honey needed to fill the bottle.

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Eggplant is not a vegetable - Rather, it's a berry. Squash, bell peppers, and cucumbers, however, are fruit.

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Breakfast syrup is not maple syrup - If it's sold as "pure maple syrup," chances are it's true, but that beloved thick imitation maple syrup, sometimes called "pancake syrup," is just maple-flavored.

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Cookie cream is not cream - There is actually no dairy in Oreos, making them perfectly suitable for vegans!

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Peanuts are not nuts - They're legumes, which means peanuts are actually closer to beans and lentils.

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Wasabi is more likely horseradish - The wasabi you get at most Japanese restaurants is more likely to be a mixture of horseradish, mustard, and food coloring. The real stuff doesn't have such a harsh and stinging effect.

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Olive oil may have some other things - Extra-virgin olive oil sold outside of Italy is reportedly often blended with other oils like hazelnut, canola, or sunflower. Entire books have been written about the shady industry, revealing that in the US specifically, 50% of olive oil is often not what's advertised. 

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Quinoa isn't a grain - All those grain bowls you've been eating were lies! It turns out the popular “ancient grain” isn't actually a grain, but rather a seed.

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Rocky mountain oysters aren't oysters - In fact, they're bull, pig, or sheep testicles.

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Raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries aren't berries - Bananas, chili peppers, and watermelons are, however, berries.

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White chocolate isn't chocolate - The "chocolate" comes from cocoa butter, which is what's separated from the cocoa nibs that are processed into cocoa powder or chocolate. But it doesn't have cocoa solids or liquor, which are essential to real chocolate and its health benefits.

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Sriracha-flavored things could mean anything - Most people think of the rooster-adorned red bottle when they imagine the spicy flavor, but since the term “sriracha” isn't trademarked, other companies can create their own versions and sell it as the same thing.

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Crab meat isn't crab... or gluten-free - Crab stick, or sometimes accurately called imitation crab, is a mixture of starches, fillers, and ground fish that gets formed into the shape of a crab leg and dyed orange for effect. It's not safe for celiacs!

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Affordable (real) saffron doesn't exist - Saffron is one of the most expensive spices in the world, costing several thousand per pound. It takes about 70,000 Crocus sativus flowers, which bloom only a few weeks a year, to create one pound. That affordable version is more likely dyed corn silk, flowers from safflower, or beet fiber.

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Red snapper is likely something less expensive - According to Delish, red snapper is usually swapped out for less expensive fish like tilefish (which has harmful levels of mercury), particularly in the US. 

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Grated Parmesan cheese may contain wood pulp - The grocery store Parmesan cheese, sold in containers you shake over dishes, contains non-dairy filler ingredients like wood pulp, according to a report from Bloomberg. 

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Headcheese is not cheese - It's actually a meat jelly made with calf or pig's head, feet, and sometimes tongue.

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Spices may not only be spices - According to WebMD, the US Food and Drug Administration allows a certain amount of insect fragments in every jar of spices, and an estimated 12% of imported spices are expected to have a few bugs in them. More protein!

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Mars bars are not chocolate bars - Since the beloved treat is made of almost 60% sugar, the EU reportedly will not consider it a chocolate bar, but rather a "candy bar."

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Truffle oil isn't made from truffles - Originally, truffle oil was high-quality olive oil infused with truffles, but today, it's mostly made synthetically with ingredients like 2,4-dithiapentane, a molecule that gives truffles their strong, distinctive smell and flavor (meanwhile real truffles taste more earthy and subtle).

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Pringles are not largely potato - Pringles have about 42% potato content, the remainder being largely a slurry of wheat starch and flours (potato, corn, and rice). In 2008, the UK nearly declared the product a "biscuit" rather than a potato product, and the company was actually in favor so that they could avoid potato taxes.

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Refried beans are not refried - Contrary to popular belief, refried beans are not fried twice. Although they are sometimes fried in lard, they're usually mashed-up beans with seasoning.

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Black pudding is not pudding - It's not dark chocolate, nor is it pudding for that matter. Black pudding is a type of blood sausage from the UK and Ireland that consists of a mixture of pork fat, blood, and oatmeal.

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Pomegranate juice may be mostly apple and grape - Pomegranate juice is revered for its health benefits, but without indication that it's 100% pure, it's likely diluted with other fruit. Coca-Cola's Minute Maid got in trouble for false advertising when it was revealed that their Pomegranate Blueberry juice was mostly apple and grape.

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Sweetbreads are not sweet nor bread - They are actually the organ meat from the thymus gland and pancreas of veal or lamb.

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Red velvet is just food-colored chocolate - The ruby-colored dessert is often artificially colored chocolate cake, but is distinguished by buttermilk and vinegar which soften the flour. Most recipes call for a small amount of cocoa powder to give it a lighter chocolate taste.

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Coffee creamer isn't cream -

Despite its name and appearance, coffee creamer doesn't actually contain any milk or cream. Its main ingredients are corn syrup solids, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and less than 2% sodium caseinate (a milk derivative).

See also: Commonly confused items that are completely different

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