Chances are most people have seen fake food many times and had no idea they were looking at display fake food, rather than the real deal. Things like display cakes, pies and just about any item available on any menu are commonly used in restaurants to attract and entice patrons. However, artificial foods are also used in museums, grocery stores, trade shows, on movie sets and on theatrical stages. Wedding planners and bakeries often display artificial cakes to showcase their products. These products are made to look real and will sometimes look even better than the food they represent. Businesses use the models to sell real food items, while movie studios and theater companies use them in productions in order to save on the cost of real food. Artificial food is big business because with proper care each piece can last for years. Regardless of the purpose, producing food props is an expensive, labor-intensive process. The process starts by making a mold out of liquid silicone. Once cured, a mixture of plastisol or liquid plastic is poured into the mold and cooked until it's hard. After removing the two halves from the mold, the pieces must be affixed to each other, cleaned and sanded to remove part lines. The plastisol mixture is made to match the color of the food being reproduced, but each piece is also hand painted to add the detailing. The final product is a durable re-creation that can be used in a display for years. That is the beauty of it, though. After a quick wash, the same pieces can be used for a very long time, ultimately saving businesses money. The molding and finishing process must be carried out for each part of whatever food is being reproduced. While it doesn't sound so labor intensive, consider a bowl of spaghetti with meatballs and sauce. The piece has to look like each noodle is separate, and all extras such as meatballs, vegetables, etc. must be treated the same. Of course, no two meatballs can look exactly alike either because that's not realistic. Sauces and cheeses on top just add to how complicated this process can be, and of course assembly is time intensive. Once the dish is assembled, the artisan goes back and does touch up painting just to make sure that each noodle and each meatball looks real. There are many costs involved in the production of each piece: • Fake food designers typically purchase at least three of the products they're recreating: one to make a mold, one from which to copy the color and texture and one for a backup. • Fake food production in the United States is a heavily regulated industry. The FDA must approve all components to ensure that if any props are ingested accidentally, no one will get sick, or worse yet, be poisoned. In addition, it is important that no components emit any toxic fumes because these items are so frequently seen in restaurants and in display cases, side by side with real food. • Components of both the mold and the finished product are plastics, therefore are petroleum-based. As such, it can be expected that the costs for these products will rise as the cost of oil increases. • High-quality, non-toxic paints and various other supplies must be used to ensure their safety. • Another cost is the designer's time. Imitation foods used for display are not made on an assembly line, but by hand. Because virtually every prop is a one-of-a-kind creation, the time involved in production is considerable. In some cases, it can take a week or more to create a single menu item. • Other costs include the space required to create the piece and store it during production, as well as shipping and handling. As a measure of the realism of prop foods, some restaurants claim that their displays have been taken by customers believing them to be real. It's not hard to imagine that fake foods have been bitten into, much to the chagrin of the eater. The people who produce artificial food are true artisans. It is as important to them as to their customers that each food replica looks not only good, but real, and delicious. For the most part, fake foods are custom-made for each order. While you might still see mass produced plastic fruit in a bowl at a relative's home, restaurant owners, bakeries, wedding planners and the like are all looking for higher quality one-of-a- kind pieces and will pay for that customization. Just think back to that dessert tray that was rolled by you in a restaurant and the impulse buy you made after you were already full and ready for the bill. Purchase of food props is an investment for a business, but it is one that pays off in the long run because these displays have been proven to entice customers to hunger and to spend more than they had planned.
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