Fruit Puddine, Bred Spred and Jesus

Canned crab meat is not crab meat. And "Boneless Wyngz" are not chicken wings.

"I am telling the truth," says the apostle Paul, "I am not lying" (1 Timothy 2:7).

If only food companies had the same high standards.

Unfortunately, they don't.

Have you ever picked up a package of Boneless Wyngz? That's a product spelled W-Y-N-G-Z. Despite the sound of the name, these chicken fritters contain "no wing meat."

There are no wings in Wyngz. Kind of

surprising.

Such manipulation of the truth has a long history in the United States. Before the existence of the Food and Drug Administration, a bottle of ketchup could contain dyed pumpkin. Ground ginger might include pieces of tarred rope. Cans with the label "potted chicken" might be completely chicken-free.

So much for the good old days.

In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act established some standards for food safety. From that point on, poisonous, dirty or rotten ingredients were off limits in food production. The act also put an end to mislabeling, insisting that companies could not call something a particular food if it did not...