Years ago I worked in a small business whose proprietor took his employees to Atlantic City, New Jersey for an annual day of gambling and eating. At the casino restaurant, I ordered mussels. When they arrived, the presentation was very appetizing. The mussels were abundant, and they were heaped in a bowl with a richly wine scented hot broth flecked with parsley and saffron styles. They were delicious. Out of curiosity, I decided to try tasting one of the saffron styles. I anticipated a disagreeably strong taste, but to my surprise there was little taste but that which the broth itself imparted. Why? Because the "saffron styles" where cleverly crafted of bright orange-red plastic! The adulteration of saffron had entered the age of plastics! Jim McKenney Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where I generally have fantastic, delightful (as in running through or floating over fields of colorful, fragrant wildflowers delightful) dreams after a meal which contains genuine saffron.