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Can you spot the difference between the real Lipitor pill and a counterfeit? Take this online quiz  and see why the multi-billion dollar counterfeit drug market is giving the World Health Organization the heebie jeebies, (not to mention any of us who takes an aspirin from time to time).Yes, many originate in Asia and yes many originateon the internet , but not all. Some come from your local pharmacy.  And when pharmacists can’t tell the difference between the real thing and the fake, (according to Pfizer), I get a little nervous.

Counterfeit foods   So what’s the alternative? Nutraceuticals? Evidently not, since food can be fake, and checking labels does no good because ingredients can be faked too. Remember the pet food scare a year or so ago? Turns out the  protein content in things like dairy products and  baby food was artificially boosted by the contaminant melamine. It's a substance commonly used in something you might eat off of - like a countertop or plastic plate - but definitely not something you want to eat. 

If you see vanilla extract at a price that’s too good to be true, it just may be a fake. And a dangerous fake, according to the FDA.  Vanilla extracts containing coumarin, a substance used in rat poison, are still made in Mexico and Latin America.

Maybe you'll just stick to  fruits and veggies. right?  Wrong. Even they're under attack by a growth in the counterfeit pesticide market across Europe and the world. Not all are dangerous, but who wants to play russian roulette with a tossed green salad?

F15E Strike Eagle

Counterfeit computer components  Mining computers for computer chips isn’t just polluting the rivers in Asia.  Those repackaged counterfeit components that come from your old PC or cellphone have turned up in U.S. military weapons and even  in an F 15 fighter jet.

Counterfeit parts are showing up in the space program too, causing big budget overruns,  says  NASA’s Christopher Scolese. The most recent was a nine-month delay in launching the  an unmanned probe on its way to explore the Milky Way (hopefully not to search for intergallactic knock offs)

Christian Louboutin- the real one 

Counterfeit goods    Counterfeiting of consumer goods generates little sympathy among most people. despite efforts by places like Paris’s house of knock offs and Thailands’ counterfeit museum who attempt to educate the public about the alarming growth of counterfeit trade across industries. 

Not too many people are going to lose sleep over a fake pair Christian Louboutin open-toed Leopard pumps. But the reality is that $600 billion dollars of world trade in today’s marketplace is counterfeit. And while some may cheer those who make expensive goods more accessible to the masses, buying into the parasitic counterfeit culture comes with a hefty pricetag.

 For more info: The true cost of designer fakes