'Tricks to make food look delicious' video goes viral

Ever wondered how food looks so good in advertisements?

Or here's something more relatable: why expectations versus reality of our food are often far apart?

Yes, we're looking at you, fast-food chains.

[embed]https://twitter.com/matsallehtv/status/1047454820896923648[/embed]

Well, that's because there's an entire industry dedicated to styling food, called - wait for it - food styling.

A video is making the rounds on Facebook showing the "tricks advertisers use to make food look delicious".

It already has 839,000 shares as of today (Nov 30) 2pm.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/FirstMediaBlossom/videos/917970251925913/[/embed]

In it, we see nine examples of food modified to look more appealing, from replacing maple syrup with motor oil to increasing beer foam by adding liquid soap.

Even tampons make an appearance - you can find out yourself.

Overall, the hacks mainly are for making food look full-bodied or more appetising.

In Singapore, food styling is still a small industry - a report last year said there were at least 15 such stylists - but a big job can cost in the thousands.

Apparently, the rate is proportional to the effort.

One food stylist, Elodie Bellegarde, said a simple meal of chicken rice can take five to seven hours to shoot.

tanthiampeng@asiaone.com