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Life imitates tart: Japanese shop mistakenly sells plastic pastries

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="This photo taken on August 17, 2022 shows a plastic food sample in preparation for an exhibition hosted by Japan" s="" Iwasaki="" Group="" in="" Tokyo.="" from="" the="" tower="" of="" to="" a="" fish="" slicing="" and="" cooking="" itself="" dragon="" emerging="" Japanese="" quirky="" plastic="" food="" sculptures="" went="" on="" display="" this="" week="" at="" an="" exhibition="" Kazuhiro="" NOGI="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/afp/10/25/plastic-food-sample-afp.jpg"/><figcaption>This photo taken on August 17, 2022 shows a plastic food sample in preparation for an exhibition hosted by Japan&#x27;s Iwasaki Group in Tokyo. From the &quot;leaning tower of pizza&quot; to a fish slicing and cooking itself and a dragon emerging from a dragon fruit, Japanese artisans&#x27; quirky plastic food sculptures went on display this week at an exhibition in Tokyo. <em>Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p><br/>TOKYO - Japan&#x27;s plastic food samples are a multi-million-dollar industry, but one pastry shop&#x27;s fake egg tarts are so life-like that its staff unwittingly sold five to customers.</p><p>Plastic food samples, known as &quot;shokuhin sampuru&quot;, are made in painstaking detail to look as realistic as possible, from moisture droplets on a chilled glass of beer to the glistening surface of a bowl of ramen.</p><p>The plastic pastries at Osaka-based Andrew&#x27;s Egg Tart are so convincing that even staff couldn&#x27;t tell the difference and unwittingly sold five of them on Saturday to two unsuspecting customers at a pop-up stand near a station in Tottori in western Japan.</p><p>&quot;We are very sorry that we mistakenly sold the samples,&quot; a company representative told AFP on Wednesday. </p><p>A clerk realized the mistake soon after the sale and the customers luckily returned the fake tarts to the stand before taking a potentially painful first bite.</p><p>Stickers will now be used to distinguish the real thing from the plastic desserts to avoid future custardy catastrophes. </p><div><strong>kh/kaf/pbt/smw</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

Japan's plastic food samples are a multi-million-dollar industry, but one pastry shop's fake egg tarts are so life-like that its staff unwittingly sold five to customers.