In 2017, reporters gathered at a news conference in Rome, Italy.

They were there to hear the details of an effort to stamp out counterfeiting that was rampant in one of the country's industries,

an industry that produces nearly half a billion dollars annually in exports.

There to address the reporters was a senior official from a large trade organization,

whose efforts had the backing of Italian government officials

and whose case was being taken to the highest reaches of international commerce, the World Trade Organization.

And the problem being discussed had been on the rise, as the industry had been growing sometimes by double digits year over year.

The U.S. alone buys about $32 million worth of that half billion dollars in exported goods every year.

And yet, the man from the large trade organization addressing reporters that day in 2017,

a man named Alberto Bale, made the stunning announcement that nearly 70% of what gets exported to the U.S. is tinged by fraud.

Yes, if you are one of the many Americans who partake of this product,

there is a 70% chance that you too have been swindled.

And then the government official, Italian Agricultural Secretary Paolo de Castro, summed up the outrage of the issue.

Reuters news agency quoted him as saying,

We can't let all these imitators use a name, a brand that gives them a link to territory that isn't theirs.

In a way, they're mocking consumers.

Alberto Bali, the man from the large trade organization, concurred.

That large trade organization was the Italian cake industry.

And he told reporters, just think,

7 out of 10 Panatoni exported to the United States do not respect production norms.

Seven out of 10 Americans buying, quote-unquotequote Italian-style Panetone are getting a fake.

A fake cake?

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