But it is punishable
And in those days the active customer demand provoked spicy produce counterfeit price which, of course, was much more humane.
But it is punishable by law.
In France, for example, for falsifying pepper charged first big fine, and if you try to selected secondary property and deprived of the right to trade, sometimes even jailed.
In Germany, the counterfeiters treated more harshly if they were caught red-handed, then either burned at the stake or buried alive in the ground together with forged spices.
So fake spices in Europe was extremely rare.
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