Plastic food samples are known as "shokuhin sampuru" (Representative Image)
A shop in Osaka, Japan sold fake pastries to its customers. Osaka-based Andrew's Egg Tart's plastic pastries are so life-like that its staff unwittingly sold five to customers. The plastic food samples are known as "shokuhin sampuru", and it is crafted with painstaking detail to look as realistic as possible.
Did you know that Japan's plastic food samples are a multi-million dollar industry? The shops in Japan make it so realistic that it is hard to tell what is real and what is not. From moisture droplets on a chilled glass of beer to the glistening surface of a bowl of ramen, the food sample has every such detail.
The plastic pastries at Osaka-based Andrew's Egg Tart are so convincing that even staff couldn't tell the difference, unknowingly the staff sold a few samples on Saturday to two unsuspecting customers at a pop-up stand near a station in Tottori in western Japan, reported AFP.
"We are very sorry that we mistakenly sold the samples," a company representative told AFP on Wednesday.
A staff realised the mistake soon after the sale and the customers luckily returned the fake tarts to the stand before taking a potentially painful first bite.
Stickers will now be used to distinguish the real thing from the plastic desserts to avoid future custardy catastrophes.