Written by Sarah West, RDN, LDN
Grocery stores are one of the oldest customer-facing professions – historically right up there with physicians and apothecaries. They’re one of the final stops in the supply chain before food actually reaches your mouth. That makes them powerful. And yet, grocery stores routinely allow misinformation to stick around – usually by accident, sometimes by convenience, and almost always without anyone questioning it.
This isn’t about malicious intent. It’s about how placement, labeling, and legacy decisions quietly shape what consumers believe to be true. Let’s talk about three common misconceptions: eggs, sweet potatoes vs. yams, and fennel vs. anise.
Eggs Are Not Dairy
Someone recently asked me, “Are eggs dairy?”
My knee-jerk reaction was disbelief – not at the person, but at the fact that in 2026, this is still a question. Eggs come from chickens. Dairy refers to products made from the milk of mammals (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2024). Biologically, nutritionally, and agriculturally, they are not related.
So I asked a few follow-up questions:
- Where do eggs come from? Chickens.
- Where do milk, cheese, butter, and ice cream come from? Cows.
- So why would eggs be dairy?
The answer was simple: because they’re in the dairy section.
And honestly? That tracks.
Historically, eggs and milk were transported together in refrigerated trucks before dedicated milk tankers existed. Those trucks were labeled “Dairy.” When they arrived at the store, eggs and milk went into the same refrigerated area. Signage was expensive, dairy was the larger commodity, and no one thought consumers would logically conclude that eggs were a dairy product.
But here we are.
What bothers me isn’t the confusion – it’s that grocery stores never corrected it. Eggs often are still sitting under signs that say “Dairy,” even though we now know better and have for a long time. Whether it’s space constraints, cost, or a “don’t know, don’t care” attitude, the result is the same: consumers internalize incorrect information.
So let me say it clearly, in case no one ever has:
Eggs are not dairy. Eggs are a poultry product.
Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, and Yams: Three Different Things
This one is messy, layered, and deeply rooted in history – which is exactly why it keeps confusing people.
Let’s start with the basics:
- Regular potatoes (like Russet or Yukon Gold) belong to the nightshade family (Solanaceae).
- Sweet potatoes belong to the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae).
- True yams belong to a completely different plant family (Dioscoreaceae) and are native to Africa and parts of Asia (FAO, 2019).
They are not interchangeable, botanically or agriculturally.
So why does the grocery store call orange sweet potatoes “yams”?
When orange-fleshed sweet potatoes entered the U.S. market, farmers needed a way to distinguish them from white-fleshed sweet potatoes. The term “yam” was borrowed from West African languages by enslaved Africans who recognized similarities to root vegetables from their home countries. The name stuck – not because it was accurate, but because it worked.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) permitted this usage on labels to help consumers differentiate orange from white sweet potatoes, even though they are not yams in the botanical sense (USDA, 2022). That decision solved a short-term marketing problem and created a long-term educational one.
To be clear:
- There are Regular potatoes
- Sweet potatoes ≠ yams
- Yams ≠ either of them
Most Americans have never seen or eaten a true yam. What’s sold in U.S. grocery stores as “yams” are almost always orange sweet potatoes. And at this point, changing the labeling would probably cause more confusion – which is how these things persist.
Fennel Is Not Anise (No Matter How Many People Say It Is)
This one is personal.
I’m a RDN, former bartender, part Italian, someone who eats fennel regularly, and someone who strongly dislikes licorice. I’ve always known fennel isn’t anise. But the grocery store doesn’t always agree with me.
The first time I bought fennel at the grocery store, I placed the item on the electronic scale and typed in fennel. What the scale told me was “product not found.” I checked the shelf. The label said anise. That didn’t make sense – anise is a spice. Fennel is a bulb. Similar flavor? Sure. Same thing? Absolutely not.
Here’s where this stops being just annoying and starts being a real problem.
Fennel is classified as a bulb vegetable, similar to celery or onion, and it appears on the FDA’s Food Traceability List (FTL) under FSMA 204. That means it requires enhanced tracking through the supply chain. Anise – the herb or spice – does not.
They share a flavor compound (anethole). They share a plant family (apiaceae). They do not share regulatory status, culinary use, or supply-chain requirements.
This confusion likely started in professional kitchens, where fennel fronds (feathery green tops) were casually referred to as “anise,” and then spread into produce labeling as global food systems expanded. Farmers know what they’re growing. Somewhere between the field and the shelf, the distinction gets lost.
The result? Home cooks buy the wrong product, chefs get inconsistent ingredients, and the supply chain quietly mislabels a traceability-regulated commodity.
So yes – even if nine out of ten people tell you otherwise:
Fennel is not anise. The names should not be used interchangeably.
Final Thoughts
None of this is about being fastidious or “technically correct for the sake of it.” Grocery stores influence how people understand food. When labels, placement, and terminology are sloppy or outdated, consumers absorb misinformation without realizing it.
Eggs aren’t dairy. Sweet potatoes aren’t yams. Fennel isn’t anise.
And none of that confusion is random – it’s the result of historical logistics, marketing shortcuts, and a lack of correction over time.
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. And honestly? You shouldn’t have to work this hard just to know what you’re buying and eating.
References
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). (2019). Yams and sweet potatoes: Differences and cultivation.
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2022). USDA Standards for Sweet Potatoes and Yams.
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2024). Dairy Definitions and Nutrition Information.