Top 50 Food Scams That Will Leave You In Disbelief

Elsa Gone Wrong

We all love to have cake, especially at birthdays, because of the joy. However, if the theme of the dish hasn’t been researched, it can ruin a party and a kid’s mood. This frozen-themed cake is a perfect example of a scam by a cake provider.

If the baker had researched Elsa, they would’ve probably done a better job at the drawing. There is another theory that came up in our minds. It is that the maker did research but lacked the artistic skills to design a beautiful cake.

No matter the case, it definitely wouldn’t hurt to do thorough research before hiring someone.

Deceptive Sandwich

Whenever we buy a sandwich, we typically expect it to be full because that’s how it’s supposed to be. That is why we were left in utter disbelief seeing this empty meal. The advertiser sure knew how to make a fool out of someone. When looking from the shelf, you’d expect the sandwich to be filled with ham and cheese.

Unfortunately, this was not the case when the person opened the package. This tactic indeed worked for the brand, but we can imagine that this ruined their overall credibility. After all, would you buy from a company that sells bread in the name of a ham and cheese sandwich?

The Packaging Betrayal

Who doesn’t love a box of chocolates filled with excellent treats? Well, the answer is everyone except for the person who bought this product. We all would have expected the whole rows to be filled with chocolate. However, that packaging was made purposely to fool the consumer.

What was visible from the transparent part was actually what this person got. An expensive box of chocolates that wasn’t worth the price is upsetting and frustrating. Imagine if you had bought this item and gifted it to someone.

The covering tactic was actually brilliant, but surely companies must hire better marketing consultants.

An Amazing Marketing Trick

It is no secret that we would love to purchase a tin of Oreos because of the classy look and more quantity. However, this box was just a clever marketing technique to enable people to buy a pack of six Oreos. If we were to guess, we bet that this tin was more expensive than the standard biscuit package.

Our heart goes out to the person who thought they were getting a container full of Oreos. It was shocking that a famous brand would pull off such a dirty trick. This is why you should always be careful when buying fancy treats.

A Half-Full Bottle

Optimists use the metaphor of telling people to see the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. Well, we would surely give this advice to the people who have bought this half-filled spice container. The person responsible for packaging this jar was intelligent. The sticker perfectly hid the fact that the spice quantity was less than stated.

At least, this person caught it early by the looks of it. That is because this picture was taken in the supermarket. They undoubtedly must have gone through a lot of food scams. Otherwise, who would have thought to check the spice quantity by rotating the bottle?

A Snack That Shouldn’t Be Judged By its Cover

We all have a habit of buying products by having an idea from the packaging. However, you definitely should not buy this poppy seed brioche that is because it is minimally filled. The snack only had some poppy seed filling in the middle only as per the consumer. Its incidents like these that make us wary of all brands.

Additionally, marketing experts shouldn’t exaggerate the description. The snack may have been bought by many, but overall the brand’s credibility has been destroyed. That is why if you see this brioche on the market shelves, be sure to avoid purchasing it.

The Box With Missing Jerky

Beef jerky is an item that many of us buy from grocery stores as it is readily available. However, you should avoid this particular brand unless you want only eight small pieces of beef jerky. The top sticker was purposely added to hide the fact that the middle of the box was empty.

The person who put up this picture was quite upset about the situation. But if you look carefully, the brand wasn’t as sneaky. Anyone who would have looked at the grams of the container would have realized that there wasn’t much inside. This individual just learned it the difficult way.

The Candy That Is Supposed To Be Scary

Paleta Payaso is a popular snack amongst kids and some adults. Typically, the treat inside the package is supposed to be unusual and resemble a clown. Sometimes, it can be scary, which is why it was shocking to find such a funny treat in the packet.

This may not seem like a typical food scam, too, but it all relies on your expectations. If you have eaten the candy before, you would find this funny and feel the person’s disappointment. But, even if you haven’t, we can bet that you must have been expecting a clown. Well, sorry to disappoint.

The Cone With Missing Ice cream

Have you had packaged ice cream cones before in your life? If so, then you must know that this picture is missing some ice cream. The chocolate ice cream part is supposed to touch the roof of the cap.

However, the picture offers a clear view that the sweet treat has been opened recently, but the size of the ice cream is shorter than the standard height.

It is difficult to find a brand to trust in today’s era because of such food and other types of scams. We’re only glad that we weren’t there in place of this individual.

Downsized Lindt

Lindt is a famous, expensive, and high-quality brand of chocolates which is why we didn’t expect this food scam from them. Initially, the box in this picture used to contain five pieces of the treats. However, suddenly Lindt started to sell this product with four chocolates only.

Besides that, the brand also increased the length of the box, which made it seem like they had increased their quantity. This is the reason why the person in the picture bought this package. However, by the time they got home, they were disappointed to realize that Lindt had downsized without any warning.

A Burger-Sized Tomato

Most things on this list are food mishaps due to a lack of some ingredients or other stuff. However, this one is the opposite and involves a burger-sized tomato. The person had actually instructed the waiter to put extra tomatoes in the fast-food.

However, the restaurant decided to be generous by placing a large tomato instead of various tiny tomatoes. As you can see, it is the same size as the burger and takes more space than the patty.

Thus the maker decided to scam people by making the burger appear big. It worked for many people but also disappointed a lot as the taste was altered.

The Doughnut With Two Sprinkles

There are many theories that we have come up with regarding this strange donut with two sprinkles. The first one is that this treat was not supposed to have any sprinkles. Thus, someone accidentally dropped the two items while the frosting was being applied. Besides that, some suggest that the donut is supposed to be a strawberry sprinkle donut.

However, the chef decided not to add the sprinkles at the last moment, which is how the two got attached. You should note that all these are speculation. Whatever the case may be with this donut, we hope the receiver liked what they got.

The Packet With Only One Broccoli

This food scam is one of the reasons why we suggest people buy vegetables with transparent packaging or from a reliable market. The person in this picture got the shock of their life when they bought a packet of broccoli roses to make their meal.

Surprisingly, the product had only one large piece of vegetable, which was inadequate and over expensive. The consumer received a great shock which is why they shared the photograph online to warn others. So if you ever want broccoli roses, be sure not to buy from this brand. Otherwise, you will have to rush to the store again.

What Do You Want As The Side?

These days restaurants seem to take instructions quite seriously and literally. The couple in this picture ordered sour cream as the side with these tacos. By looking at the picture, you can try to guess where the restaurant went wrong. Yes, you guessed it right.

Instead of giving the dip as a side, a worker applied it on the actual sides of the taco. The couple had a good laugh about this mishap and didn’t scold the restaurant. However, that does not mean that food places shouldn’t be careful when it comes to instructions. After all, the next customer may not be so lenient.

Less Chips, More Air

It is no secret that chips manufacturers fill half the packets with air to make them look bulky. However, Doritos took this to the next level by introducing a new package that was supposedly more filled. But if you look carefully, you’ll realize that the grams of the smaller and bigger pack are the same.

This branding move disappointed many consumers who checked the gram values. Of course, when this picture surfaced on the internet, many more took notice of it. This is why a brand should be careful when trying to scam customers. We always take note of the little things.

The Bagel With Missing Vegetables

This is a food mishap that we are still trying to figure out. Nothing may seem wrong to you at first, but when you look at the right pictures, you’ll notice that the other side is missing vegetables. It may have been an honest mistake by the vendor. However, it could also be an attempt to scam the individual.

Nonetheless, the person who got this bagel was surely disappointed. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have posted the picture to point out the mistake. We just wish that this never happens to you or us. We would definitely be upset because of the lack of veggies.

Oreo Ice Cream With No Oreos

Whoever was in the mood for Oreo ice cream on this day indeed got their appetite ruined. That is because the tub was filled with plain vanilla ice cream. As per the consumer, there was not even a single chunk of Oreo in this dessert. The cookie brand definitely has a record of scamming people.

Earlier, we pointed the Oreo tin scam, and now this ice cream mishap. So what we suggest is that you should definitely buy from this brand at your own risk. If this happened to us, we would be mad because of not getting our favorite flavor.

Bad Advertising

Do you think this is a food scam by a popcorn brand? If so, then you’re not alone. We thought the same as well until we investigated further. This product has nothing to do with selling popcorn but that cardboard container.

The item being sold here is the popcorn box, and the packet inside there is just complimentary. Its concept is to offer you a container that you can fill as much as you want to.

Clearly, the marketing experts didn’t do a good job. That is because many people bought the box thinking that a large popcorn packet was being sold.

The $6 Bacon

Many people often place an order of an extra at restaurants. The person in this picture did bacon that was $6. That is why they expected there to be more pieces of this dish. Unfortunately, they were only served with this tiny bacon which disappointed them greatly.

You may think that the bacon does not look tiny in the picture, but you’re mistaken. The camera was held close to the dish, which is why it appears bigger than its actual size. This is one of the reasons why sides should be ordered carefully at restaurants. A big price tag doesn’t necessarily signify ample quantity.

Cinnamon Bagel With The Wrong Ingredient

Cinnamon bagels are supposed to be plain and do not include additional ingredients. However, this product deviated from the typical recipe and had two raisins. The person who opened the bagel was shocked, and for a second thought, they bought a raisin bagel. Typically, this is not something that anyone would fret over because the raisins can be taken out.

However, if someone is allergic to the ingredient and would have eaten the bagel without opening it, it would have caused trouble. Since brands don’t seem to bother to be careful, we recommend you do so. Hence, always check bagels before eating to avoid surprises.

Burrito With No Middle

When the person who bought this burrito saw it first, they thought it would fulfill their appetite due to its long length. It was only when they opened the packaging that they realized the burrito wasn’t whole. It had been cut into two pieces which were placed at the edges. The middle part, which would have made the burrito long, was missing.

This food scam broke the heart of the consumer and made them regret their decision. Seeing this, we only hope that this does not happen to anyone else. That is because the burrito does not seem adequate for filling the stomach of an adult.

What You Want Vs What You get

On social media, you will find many memes on food expectation vs. reality scenarios. Many food places exaggerate when they advertise a new dish or deal. This picture is a perfect example of how disappointing restaurants can be. The person ordered a platter of nacho, thinking it would be the same as the marketing picture.

Little did they know that the place would barely put any sauce or meat as toppings. We could tell you to see the silver lining as the customer got more nachos than expected. However, the fact that they had to eat without sauce negates everything.

A Wrap With Almost No Filling

Many of us love to purchase wraps for breakfast or lunch as they can be eaten fast and are fulfilling. However, this person got the worst deal when they found out their wrap wasn’t filled even a quarter of its length. They asked the place not to add the egg.

However, the restaurant didn’t tell them that the egg is what makes up most of the wrap. That is why it looks incomplete without it. Only two pieces of bacon were placed in the middle. Besides that, not even half a slice of cheese was added to compensate for the egg.

The Deceptive Chocolate Chip Muffin

When you order a chocolate muffin, you may expect it to be made up of a batter of melted chocolate chips or have inner/exterior topping. Unfortunately, in this case, the sweet dish had none, which is disappointing on so many levels. No one wants to buy a chocolate chip muffin that is simply a vanilla one.

What’s even ruder and mocking is that the manufacturers put only a single chocolate chip inside it. We would have rather preferred that they put none. That is because this shows that they don’t care about pleasing customers and couldn’t bother making an effort.

A Poor Cannoli

Cannoli is a sweet Italian treat that consists of a fried pastry that oozes with a filling made up of different ingredients. The item in this picture is a poor version of cannoli that is disrespectful to the actual dish. The filling in this pastry does not seem to be covering it completely.

This is disappointing as the dish is typically expensive. All we have to say is that our sympathies are with the person who ordered. If they had previously tried cannoli in their life, then surely, they would have been disappointed. Of course, if they hadn’t, they might have been a bit impressed.

The Valentine’s Betrayal

Valentine’s is a momentous day for many couples worldwide, which is why it has to be perfect. Unfortunately, when this guy’s girlfriend was thinking of a good gift, she decided to purchase conversation hearts which didn’t turn out to be as wonderful as she had thought.

These conversation hearts were supposed to have romantic messages on them. As you can see, they lack any writing. Not only that but some of the hearts are poorly shaped too. That is why you shouldn’t get something that you haven’t seen as a gift. At least, the guy had a good laugh about it when he posted this picture.

Wrong Sushi

Sushi (nigiri) is one of the favorite Japanese dishes in the US, so sushi restaurants are pretty prevalent in the country. When this person ordered the avocado nigiri, they thought they would get a sushi season or filled with avocado sauce.

However, it was a big shock when the restaurant lined up avocados instead of sushi on a leaf. This is one of the worst things that can happen to you. We bet the customer wasn’t happy when they were served only avocados instead of a whole meal. If we had been there, we wouldn’t be okay with it too.

Good Packaging, Bad Content

We all love garlic bread as a side with pasta, pizza, and many other dishes. That is why snacks based on them are highly popular as well. However, this packet of garlic bread chips isn’t as good as it has been packaged. You may have expected the snack to resemble the dish.

Technically, it does have the shape of garlic bread. However, the color and taste of the chips do not match at all. This snack could hardly be called garlic bread. This picture is a perfect example of how good packaging can allow the sale of a bad product.

A Cookie Packet With Wrong Picture

We all know that the pictures on a snack packet always differ from the product slightly. However, in this case, the cookie inside the package is entirely different than the printed photograph. The significant difference is that the one inside is a chocolate biscuit with two chocolate chips on them.

Meanwhile, the packaging picture is a vanilla batter cookie with lots of chocolate chips. It is also quite challenging to figure which one is wrong here. Did the packaging company make a mistake while printing? Or did the manufacturers seal the biscuits incorrectly? Whatever, the case it sure wasn’t a happy day for someone who bought this snack.

A $5 Salad

Living a healthy life can be costly, as salads can be pretty expensive. It is also disappointing when you order one and gets only tomatoes with a few onions. The person ordered a tomato salad which cost them $5. Clearly, the restaurant didn’t think when they put the dish on the menu.

This salad is basically to rip off customers who prefer to eat healthy items rather than fast food. That is because you can cut tomatoes at home and eat there free of cost. Well, at least the restaurant had the courtesy to use two different varieties of tomatoes.

More Ice, Less Beverage

This beverage scam is something that all fast-food chains have been doing since the dawn of time. Every place fills the container with less than half of the drink and compensates the space by adding a large amount of ice. Luckily, we have a tip for you that will help you avoid this scam.

Typically, when getting takeaway or placing a delivery, mention not putting ice or giving it as a side in the instructions. That is because if you are at your home, then you’ll have ice in your freezer. Besides that, all drinks are always cold to some extent.

The Disappointing Dessert

Blueberry muffins are delicious and can lift your mood easily on a bad day. We thought this until we saw this picture of a blueberry muffin that is mainly a plain one. There is some frosting on the top, along with the fruit, which makes it appealing.

However, when the person cut the muffin in half, they realized there was no blueberry inside. The treat was also lacking cream, which upset the consumer. That is why you should never buy something because it looks good.

Appearance can be quite deceiving, and this is exactly what this blueberry muffin teaches us.

Fake Advertising

Seafood lovers must have been excited to purchase this jumbo shrimp tray. However, the brand was fake advertising and didn’t live up to its promise of offering jumbo shrimps. They used the packaging strip to fool people into buying the product. The shrimps had been disconnected from the middle, and the pieces were kept at the far two edges.

This allowed the seller to hide the empty part of the tray with the name strip. So the customers thought they were paying reasonably for the jumbo shrimps, but in reality, they spent more than what they got. It is a bummer, and we have our sympathies for the buyers.

Incomplete Sour Sticks

Kids and young adults love sour sticks a lot which is why they are readily available on the market. However, even this snack is not safe from food scamming brands. This picture is the perfect example of what we’re talking about. The sticks in this tray were supposed to be the whole box long.

However, as you can see, they were cut short and only filled about three-fourth of the packet. This is disappointing because people can’t usually get enough of sour sticks. Not only that, but the kid who got this must have spent the day sulking as well.

The Broccoli Packet With No Broccoli

We definitely feel sorry for the person who decided to make their dinner or lunch using this broccoli packet. That is because it lacked the only thing that it was supposed to contain. The manufacturers filled the package with broccoli stems instead of the actual roses.

While the stems contain some nutrients, they cannot be used in dishes due to their nature. Thus, a brand’s scamming technique ruined someone’s appetite. This example is another reason why you should avoid getting frozen packets of vegetables. They are not only expensive but come with significant risks. Meanwhile, fresh items in the market are a safer option.

One Blueberry For A Whole Packet Of Blueberry Granola

It seems like people love to scam when it comes to blueberry items, as this is the third example on this list. When buying this blueberry granola, you would expect it to have both in relatively equal proportions. However, the manufacturer didn’t get this memo which is they messed up the snack.

There is no doubt that the packet is filled with granola. But when it comes to blueberry, there’s only one tiny piece that you can see in the picture. As per the person, the packet contained granola, and there was some flavoring that resembled the taste of blueberry.

The Can With A Hole

This food mishap caught us off guard and indeed shocked us. Typically, a tomato paste can is full entirely and till the top. However, this can cross all boundaries by having a huge center hole that runs till the bottom of the tin.

If this tomato paste had been filled from the middle, the consumer could have used it longer. Unfortunately, they were meant to get a piece of tin. The only thing we are left wondering is how the hole may have been caused. If the company did it purposely, then we hope they get sued for it.

With Extra sauce

Burgers are pretty delicious when they are filled with our favorite sauces. In this picture, you are looking at a burger that lacks BBQ sauce. What’s so interesting is that the customer had specifically instructed the restaurant to add extra sauce.

So either the employee didn’t listen carefully while taking the order, or the kitchen messed up the instructions. No matter what the case, someone’s favorite meal ended up being ruined.

After all, the burger does seem dry and small. Even the onion rings look tinier than usual. All we can say is good luck to you avoiding such scams.

The Chocolate Mishap

Are you wondering what’s wrong with this picture? Well, the packaging and the actual filling are different significantly. When you look at the packet, you must be tempted to buy this product because of the extra chocolate. However, things are not as they seem. You can see in the picture that the actual cookie barely has any filling.

It only contains a thin line of chocolate cream, which is not even melted. This is ironic as that is not how the cookie is supposed to be. For instance, the sweet is called Milano Melt which further emphasizes that the chocolate should be melted.

The Styrofoam Trick

A mug full of candy seems like a good deal until you realize that the candy was never in the mug. Instead, it was laid on styrofoam which was put inside the cup to make it appear attractive and ample in quantity. If we were the marketers, we would have placed all the treats inside the cup to please the customers and make them come for more.

However, we doubt that after this article you would still want to buy one of these products. There is one silver lining about all this, though. At least the buyer got to enjoy some jolly ranchers rather than none.

The Chocolate Wafer Roll That Lacks Chocolate

Here is another case of exaggerated packaging that has deceived many people over the years. The wafer roll on the packet seems to be oozing with melted chocolate. However, in reality, this is dry and does not contain the same amount. In fact, the actual wafer rolls have some hollow gap through the middle.

That is why relying on a photograph is never a good idea when it comes to buying products. They are only used for advertising and do not reflect the quality nor quantity of the item. We genuinely hope that in the coming years, this type of scamming stops.

The Worst Birthday Ever

Birthdays are supposed to be full of joy and laughter as they are a cause of celebration. However, the kid at this party was not happy because he got a styrofoam cake. It might take you a minute to realize, but that empty white platform in the picture was supposed to be cake and not a platform.

When the cake arrived, the family was quite happy with the size and the décor. It looked good from the outside to deceive everyone. That is why we always suggest people order from reliable and authentic sources by checking out reviews and getting referrals.

The Manufacturing Mistake

Candy is great to have when it is in the best form. However, everything is wrong in the one that is in this picture. The item hasn’t been manufactured correctly, and it’s visible. The two strips are supposed to be connected so that the two colors are consumed together.

However, they made a mistake in manufacturing as the two strips are separate. Interestingly, this snack brand is quite popular, which is why we were hesitant to accept that they would make such a rookie mistake. We also wonder if the candy is actually one foot-long as the packet description or not.

The Overpriced Cake Slice

Cheesecakes are delicious and relatively more expensive than the standard type. However, this slice has reached a new level of food scam. It is $10, which is quite costly for one piece of cake. Besides that, the size of this slice is pretty small.

Typically, cake pieces are a big triangle that takes up most of the space in this sort of plastic packaging. Whoever bought this dessert was fooled or must have been craving it badly.

Otherwise, no one would have paid $10 for such a thin slice of cheesecake. Let’s hope that the taste was excellent to make up for the high price.

Fish That Is Actually Onions

If you look at the picture only once, you will find it perfect and may disagree that it is a food scam. However, you couldn’t be more wrong as this package that supposedly contains fish primarily has onions. This is a packet of frozen fish that you can find in various grocery stores.

The person who bought this thought they were getting ample fish as the box seemed to be filled. However, after unpacking it, they realized that the filling was actually onions and not fish. Only the outer thin rolls that surrounded the vegetable were the seafood.

Plain Pancakes With The Wrong Title

Pancakes come in a variety of flavors that enhances the dessert significantly. However, these cookies and cream pancakes are unlike any other you’ve seen. The customer paid $2 extra to upgrade to the premium flavor but was practically insulted by the restaurant.

The place simply put an Oreo cookie over the pancake and called it a day. This is an act that should have the restaurant banned for deceiving customers. That is because this picture is not how cookies and cream pancakes are supposed to be. Not to mention that the box is small for the dish and requires improvement too.

The Stale Lunch

Schools are required to be responsible and respectful towards the students. That is why we were shocked when we saw this lunch of a student that is practically stale and not suitable for eating. To make things worse, the child had to pay $3.25 for this pizza.

We surely hope that the kid refused to consume this pizza slice. Firstly, it seems too old to fresh, which is a health hazard for the students. Anyone who ate this pizza probably ended up in the hospital later for food poisoning. Here’s to hoping that school management pays more attention to their canteen.

The Cheap Solution To Chicken Strips

Chicken strips are pieces of crispy fried chicken that many restaurants and fast-food chains offer as a side. However, this place has a new way of making the dish. They practically fry a regular smooth chicken patty. After that, they cut it into four strips.

Once the patty was cut, the restaurant named it chicken strips. We believe serving this dish to customers is a crime. That is because a patty cannot give justice to the good old crispy fried chicken strips. What’s worse is that it cost more than typical patty dishes. Thus, this scam surely disappointed the customer.

Cheese Fries That Lacks The Main Ingredient

Fries are one dish we believed could never go wrong. However, this restaurant proved us wrong by giving us the worst cheese fries we have ever seen. It seems like they took a slice of cheese, laid it over the fries, and microwaved it to make it melt.

Of course, the cheese didn’t melt properly in the microwave. Instead, it shrank and hardened a bit while the meal was being delivered. Whoever ordered this must have faced great regret when they received the package. If we were them, we would have probably refused to accept this lousy order and pay.

Stadium Food Scam

Stadiums don’t allow people to bring outside food to boost their sales of overpriced meals. Anyone who has been there at least once knows that stadium food is one of the prevalent scams in the world. This burger is the perfect proof of our statement.

It cost the person $10 and did not contain any sauce. There was only one tomato, and the patty wasn’t even large enough to cover the whole bun. Overall, this burger isn’t appealing or fulfilling, which is a shame considering it’s worth $10. This is the reason why you should never trust stadiums for offering anything good.