 Mislabeled fish is flooding the marketplace and Americans may be swallowing it hook, line and sinker, according to a new study by an environmental activist group. A look at seafood sales across the country by ocean conservation group Oceana found that roughly one third of the time, seafood sold at U.S. grocery stores, seafood markets, restaurants and sushi venues had been swapped for species that are cheaper, overfished, or risky to eat. Beth Lowell, campaign director for Oceana, told CNN that the study was conducted over the course of two years and encompassed retail outlets in major metropolitan areas across 21 states. Staff and supporters of the organization purchased 1,247 pieces of fish and submitted samples to a lab for DNA testing to determine if the species matched the in-store menu or label in accordance with Food and Drug Administration naming guidelines. Out of the 1,215 samples that were eventually tested, 401 were determined to be mislabeled. Seafood fraud is of particular interest to the FDA not only because the lack of a standard naming convention would prevent correct species identification and inhibit processors' and consumers' knowledge of the potential safety hazards and allergens, but also because it may enable economic fraud due to high value fish being swapped for lower value species. The FDA’s “Seafood List” identifies acceptable market, scientific, common and vernacular names and specifies which may be used interchangeably to avoid any ambiguity in the marketplace. The agency frowns upon the use of vernacular names, which are usually introduced at the regional level.
The two most mislabeled fish, according to Oceana, were snapper (for which 33 different species of fish including rockfish, perch, sea bream and tilapia were substituted) and tuna, which was mostly replaced with escolar - an often-banned snake mackerel that can cause mild to severe gastric distress to those who consume it. In many cases, Atlantic cod, which is often overfished, was mislabeled as the more sustainable Pacific cod (and vice-versa). Grouper was often replaced with at-risk species including Gulf grouper and speckled hind, or in one case, king-mackerel, a high-mercury fish that the federal government has advised sensitive groups, such as pregnant women, to avoid. The most frequent outlet for mislabeling was sushi restaurants. Out of 118 sushi venues visited, 95% sold fish that varied from their menu identification, including the previously mentioned snapper and tuna, as well as yellowtail/hamachi, which was incorrectly labeled in every case. Diners at non-sushi restaurants received considerably more honest ingredients,according to Oceana, with just more than half of the 148 visited locations selling incorrectly labeled fish (snapper and cod again were the most slippery catch). And grocery store shoppers fared best of all, with only 27% of the 408 stores selling seafood that didn’t live up to its label’s claims. While this was one of the largest studies to date, the findings echoed those in previous studies by the Boston Globe (48% mislabeling in 183 local samples in 2011, with little improvement in a 2012 follow-up), Consumer Reports (20 to 25% mislabeled), and the United States Government Accountability Office, which used its 2009 findings to call on the federal government for additional inspection resources. But who is responsible for reeling in this widespread fraud and why is it happening in the first place? That’s where things get fishy, despite the efforts of the seafood industry. U.S. fishermen provide most of this information at the dock, but save for product from participants in voluntary programs like Trace Register or Trace and Trust, it is extremely difficult for vendors and consumers to track this information from boat to plate. The matter is further muddied by the fact that 91% of seafood consumed in the United States is imported from other countries, 54% of which is processed at sea, and roughly 2% of which is governmentally inspected for fraud. The further a fish gets from its origins, sold in parts rather than whole, the more difficult it is to track to its eventual destination, leaving the supply chain wide open to human error and deliberate deception. According to the GAO, three federal agencies play key roles in detecting and preventing seafood fraud: the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, which reviews import information to detect fraud schemes; the Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service, which offers a voluntary, fee-based inspection program, and the FDA, which focuses its seafood-specific resources primarily on health issues by way of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points management program. The separation of responsibility and lack of collaboration, the GAO’s analysis found, left the system especially vulnerable to fraud. While the agencies might not be aligned in their methodology, they - and organizations like Oceana, Food and Water Watch and the Blue Ocean Group - do all agree: every level of the seafood chain suffers as a result of fraud. From the economic impact on the fisheries that are undercut by sellers skirting the rules, fish species endangered by a muddied tally of their stocks, vendors and chefs whose reputations are at stake, and diners who risk ingesting allergens and toxins from mislabeled fish, there is a cost to misidentified seafood. In 2009, the FDA sanctioned seafood seller Peter Xuong Lam, president of Virginia Star Seafood Corporation, after he was convicted of conspiracy to import catfish, falsely labeled as sole, grouper, flounder, snakehead, channa, and other species of fish, from Vietnam for fraudulent sale. He was sentenced to five years in prison and became the first food importer ever to be debarred (for a period of 20 years) by the agency. The agency continues to cite and seeks to prosecute offenders who attempt to undermine the system, but notes that the responsibility of regulating retail food stores and restaurants falls primarily to state and local agencies. In 2012, U.S. Reps. Edward Markey and Barney Frank, both Massachusetts Democrats, introduced the Safety and Fraud Enforcement for Seafood Act which would require full traceability for all seafood sold in the United States. The bill died in Congress, but industry members and civilians are taking up the charge. Members of the National Fisheries Institute can sign a pledge to stamp out economic fraud in the seafood industry, and its Better Seafood Board provides a mechanism for members of the seafood industry to report fraud where they see it occurring and provide documentation on issues that arise. Closer to the plate, in October 2012, 500 chefs - including Mario Batali, Thomas Keller and Rick Bayless - signed a pledge calling on the U.S. government to require that seafood be traceable in order to prevent seafood fraud and keep illegal fish out of the U.S. market. But diners need not be left dangling. Lowell recommends that consumers empower themselves by purchasing whole fish, which are easier to identify, and not trusting prices that seem too good to be true. She also encourages asking questions of fish vendors, such as what kind of fish it is, whether it was wild-caught or farm-raised and where, when and how the fish was caught. Even raising the question will alert the sales staff that consumers are interested in where their food comes from - and that they won’t settle for anything fishy. Consumer Resources: NOAA Fishwatch.org - The public can send information on possible mislabeling violations to safe.seafood@noaa.gov or NOAA’s hotline at 1-800-853-1964 Previously - Faux pas! Food fraud on the rise |
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Next they will tell us there is no mermaid in the mermaid salad at the store.
Would you eat her if there was? I mean "eat it?"
I was a victim of over the weekend with red lobster and their Fish and chips(no wrong doing on their part – just a menu change I think). It appears they changed their menu within the last year. They previously had atlantic cod in their fish and chips (dark 1 inch diameter fish sticks) and now are serving a whole fillet of what appears to be haddock (or pollack) (black stripe and all). i don't like what they are serving now – might be pacific cod or haddock as the fish isn't salty or white and flakey like what I've been used to.
Red lobster has a menu picture on their site that is acurate as what you get now – not sure what type of fish it is.
I'm not ordering or eat
Well,I recently ate:
Pollock
Whitefish
and flounder
honestly,they all taste the same.NO BIG DEAL!!!!!! Just eat the GOD DAMN fish and be happy!!__
How about some horse? If we can't keep the relatively few cuts of land-meat straight, how in the world will ANY amount of government oversight get the hundreds of edible fish species correct? Stop trying. Caveat empur. (Ha, spell check wanted to make that tempura! Appropriate)
The FDA is underfunded and understaffed. Kind of incredible how a segment of Americans keep pushing for tax cuts while the quality of government service goes down the tubes.
The number of food inspections has declined over the past decades as FDA funding has declined in proportion to an increasing workload. Are you aware the it is pharmaceuticals that fund drug testing which is then reviewed by the FDA? Would you expect research being funded by pharmaceuticals about their own new products to be impartial?
Nearly all of the swapping discussed in the article is occurring at the leaves of the distribution network – individual restaurants and their last-tier suppliers. None of these fall under FDA regulation, and never have; they are generally the purview of state and city inspections.
Nice rant, though.
You missed the point entirely.
I bought a small fish and chips restaurant in 2006. I quickly learned that the previous owners were substituting a Vietnamese catfish called 'Basa' for almost everything on the menu – even halibut! And they gave huge portions because basa costs about two dollars a pound compared to about fifteen a pound for halibut. Their customers purchased the huge portions and never questioned it. When I took over, I got rid of all the basa and replaced the halibut, haddock, and other fish with the real thing. Guess what? Customers were really angry at me for giving smaller portions, but charging the same (or appropriate) prices. I learned that many other fish restaurants substitute. Some really busy and successful places do it. You really need to be careful. Vietnamese catfish is raised in cages in the very polluted Mekong River. They use a carcinogenic antifungal substance called malachite green that is used for fish in aquariums – not for consuming. Do not be afraid to ask questions before ordering fish at a restaurant!!!!!
I like the taste of pollack, broiled four minutes each side, with margarine and lemon pepper for seasoning. I purchase pollack by the ten pound box, for about sixteen dollars. I re-package it into individual serving sizes and keep it in the same box in the freezer.
Isn't that special?
Geez, I thought it was sorta special.
Ever since I heard from an Southeast Asian acquaintance and former colleague of mine, who told me that "tilapia" is trash fish like to some people in southeastern U.S. who think "catfish" as trash fish, I make sure that I am ever served either of them. Tilapia supposedly came by the way of Mexico where it's popular with poor people just like in Southeast Asia. Those two species probably makes good substitute for the more expensive fish. I'd rather consume what I catch myself.
There's nothing wrong with either Tilapia or Catfish, it's just stigma that's been applied for them.
I hope for your sake you don't eat crustaceans/shellfish.
Reblogged this on jackpayette.com and commented:
Interesting piece on seafood related to sustainability & safety.
While Fraud is a serious issue, the FDA is not in the fish business and their acceptable market names make it more confusing, more difficult and ultimately more expensive. EX: a Highly respected Los Angeles Seafood Company has one full time FDA guru to study the guidelines and make sure they are getting the names right. Patagonian tooth fish or Antarctic cod? FDA approves: dogcockle and morid cod as acceptable market names.
And the Republicans are dead set on gutting the FDA so that we will be at the complete mercy of the Big Food Corporations of whatever kind. The new chicken inspection scheme will make it next to impossible for the government to guarantee the quality of chicken. Who knows if we have a horse meat problem like Europe does. There are some things that government has to do even if it affects some big corporation's bottom line.
This is where Liberals lose all creditability. You are nothing but hypocrites. Republicans want the FDA to become more efficient instead of a global money sink that takes bribes and extorts those who do not follow their rule. Sound familiar? This is EXACTLY what Dems want Reps to do to to the Pentagon and other various agencies.
Stop being a hypocrite. Both sides hold more importance in specific agencies and the ones they don't hold as important they want to mess with and remove funding, etc.
We democrats are determined to to have people turn from fish to Church's Chicken. As we were able to elect a president with an IQ of 71, it should be easy. For every Cadillac you buy from Government Moters you get a free chicken dinner from Church's Chicken with a side of greens.
People like you are EXACTLY WHY Republicans lost the 2012 election and will probably not get the presidency back for decades more to come.
The president's toe fungus has a higher IQ than you do, you sad sad person.
Uh – according to the article, the fish is mostly correctly identified and inspected when it enters the country. The illicit substitutions are occurring much farther down the distribution chain, far outside the FDA's reach, at the state and local level.
Nice rant, though.
Well of course the root cause of this is that the same NGO's have completely decimated the United State's fishing industry while there is huge demand for seafood. Naturally, that demand is going to get filled from somewhere and that some where most likely doesn't have the same controls over the catching, handling, processing, and labeling of those products.
Check out this infographic on the mislabeling problem in NYC. http://visual.ly/nyc-fish-fraud
Found a chicken bone in my fish sandwich the other day. Does that fall within "abuse", or accidental occurrence?
Of course, Republicans would consider any effort by the government to halt these practices to be over regulation and a detriment to business interests.
Only a fool thinks the government could stop this nonsense. Regulations are already in place...that will not stop fraud. The best defense is not to rely on the government but to become an informed consumer.
This has been expressed several times, how would you know if the fish was legit or not? Food coloring is added to Faux Salmon to make it look like Salmon. It's not as easy as you think. This why you need to someone from the outside running tests to determine if the fish is indeed the fish that you think it is.
This is a bigger problem than most people realize and it extends way beyond just seafood. According to the U.S Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), there has been a 60% increase in the number of records in their food fraud database since 2010. I started a site recently (justrealfoods.com) focused on cooking with whole foods, discussing food safety, and increasing awareness of the risks that refined, artificial, GMO, or processed foods bring to the dinner table.
Read this article posted on food fraud to find out more: http://justrealfoods.com/fake-food-its-whats-for-dinner/
We need more accountability when it comes to food labeling. Consumers deserve the piece of mind of knowing that what they are purchasing is properly represented on the label.
What's funny is that I actually ADORE escolar and LOVE when it is served to me as opposed to regular tuna. I know my fish very very well so I know when there is an imposter or not. To me, escolar is not an imposter. lol
"91% of seafood consumed in the United States is imported from other countries."
That is ridiculous!!! We should be able to provide most of our seafood.
And to emphasize the fraud that is out there....my mom on, at least, 2 occasions has bought salmon that the woman in the fish market said was wild caught. However, I've been telling my mom that wild caught salmon is RED and farm-raised salmon is PINK. The salmon that she bought was pink. My mom keeps saying that the fish market lady wouldn't lie to her. I just shake my head. I tried to tell her.
Actually, farm-raised salmon is gray. They just artificially color it with a red dye to make it pink so you people will buy it.
Great point. They do the same with cheese. Cheddar is white from the beginning. Why is it orange at the market? It's dyed so people will buy it. They also inject red meat packaging with CO2 to preserve the color.
Perception is king. I know I won't buy read meat that isn't red or salmon that isn't pink. We've been conditioned to think that's the color it's supposed to be.
Superman – glad you're making the attempt to be an aware consumer, but... No, wild-caught salmon is not necessarily red. Typically, only sockeye salmon and Sometimes Coho salmon are red. Other Coho, Chinook and pink salmon are orange to pink. The reason we import so much fish is because a lot of the fish sold in America was farmed – farmed salmon from Chile, farmed shrimp from Thailand, farmed talapia from China, etc. These farmed products are generally ecologically unsustainable and more toxin-laiden that wild fish, but they are cheaper. Real wild fish is expensive – but worth every penny.
Well of course the root cause of this is that the same NGO's have completely decimated the United State's fishing industry while there is huge demand for seafood. Naturally, that demand is going to get filled from somewhere and that some where most likely doesn't have the same controls over the catching, handling, processing, and labeling of those products.
The root of this problem is that the FDA permits fish to be marketed under almost any name fishermen, fish sellers and restaurants want to use. Think of fish as brands. The analogy would be if it were permissible to market Anything as Gucci – regardless of who made it. Another analogy would be permitting every meat – chicken, pork, cat, dog, rump roast – to be marketed as filet mignon, and leaving it up to consumers to sort out what is what. There's an easy fix. It simply isn't true that there isn't an agreed upon nomenclature for fish. There is. The American Fisheries Society (AFS) has a list of one, single, agreed-upon name for virtually every fish that swims. The FDA should insist that those names be used, and periodic inspections should be conducted to ensure laws are being followed. The question is, Why doesn't the FDA want a solution to this problem (they clearly do not). Money. People make a lot of it marketing talapia as snapper, greenling as trout and "whatever" as something called "white tuna."
Well put!
Trusting the Politicians and thinking that its the other states senators and congressmen are the problem is the real problem. What is needed is a complete change of those in Washington is what is needed to change their attitudes, vote every last one of these ignoramuses out.
This just continues to drive home that we should be buying whole local seafood in every region we live in. For the land locked states its a trust in your fish monget or fish market. Stick to seafood as close to you as possible, buy whole when possible and if your vendor can't tell you where it came from or show you whet he got the information, then don't buy it. We need to stay away from imported, processed at sea , previously frozen seafood that we can't trace.
I completely agree with you! stick to local and sustainable species... a little thought when buying goes a long way.
The entire food supply is tainted. This is what unregulated capitalism looks like. And it isn't just agribusiness. It is every corporatized industry in the world. Poisonous medicines, children given psychotropic drugs because they don't adapt well to a mechanized educational system, fractionated corn, pesticides and a whole cast of toxic chemicals in all the food, environmental devastation in the oceans, the forests, the rivers, the land. Genocide of indigenous peoples throughout the world. This folks, is the "invisible hand" that rises up to choke humanity when industry is freed of community oversight and control. Industry should serve humanity. Not the other way around.
Quality is best, but in America cheap is good enough. The question remains: what is the real cost?
You know little of food and even less of economics. The statists idea of protection makes idjuts of consumers when they should be able to identify foods and fish. It isn't capitalism that is at fault, it is people thinking the government will protect the citizen against ignorance.
Are you asking all consumers to be experts on fish? I don't know about you, but I work a regular 8 to 5, which means I don't have the time to learn how to identify fifty or a hundred different types of fish on sight.
For somebody who berates others on "not knowing economics," you seem to lack an understanding of the importance of specialization.
gager... We wish you were kidding. Even experts like us are at a loss when presented with a piece of fish at a restaurant that appears to not be what it was supposed to be. We don't carry a DNA kit with us, and short of that a manager who is willfully mislabeling fish isn't going to suddenly say, "Gee, you're right." Educate yourself and think a little before you go on these forms, OK?
The problem is so far from under regulation. Like anything in America the regulation is so dense, disjointed, and confusing it is as hard to interpret as it is to enforce with any quantity or quality. I do agree however that people should be very wary of food in general. Your idea that more regulation is the cure to any problem is foolish. The government hardly enforces the existing laws of this country with any precision. Thinking that the new laws will be better enforced is just moronic.
Eric, with all due respect, you don't appear to know much about this. The problem is precisely a lack of regulation. This issue (fish) has been under the radar for a long, long time. We have copyright and patents to protect brands and a rigorous inspection process for beaf and for cuts of beaf. These regulations (generally) work well. The Problem Is... we have nothing like this in place for fish. We need it. Before you go on these forums...
Thank you Suzie Coyote. The solution is clearly everything should be run by the Central Scrutinizer and we should all plook tiny chrome-plated machinea That look like a magical pigs with marital aids stuck all over it... now – go put your tin hat back on before the alien astro rays get you...
And the Republicans want the government out of people's lives. Then it will be 100% mislabeled fish.
This is why we should be eating seafood that is labeled as "Louisiana Seafood" or Gulf Of Mexico Seafood". You can't go wrong with either!!!
AMEN!! I"m lucky enough to live on the Gulf Coast and I couldn't agree more!!
Except for the fact that the entire gulf ecosystem has been tainted and quite possibly unsafe for consumption.
The fruits of all this 33 years of GOP deregulation.
Enjoy.
.
Maybe that ain't peanut butter we are eating !!!!!!!!!!
I thought they were going to say the fish contained the beef which was being substituted with horse meat.
Republicans have successfully cut "meddlesome, job-killing, government regulation" so effectively that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Welcome back to the 1800's America!
lol – incredible – you can blame everything on them can't you? What about the asteroid fly by? That was their fault too right?
Try thinking things out. Spending cuts sooner or later will have an effect on the services provided. If don't think anyone should care just what the hell is actually in that jar of peanut butter, fish sticks package or blob of red meat, your wish is coming true. The problem is that the marketplace will correct for the liars and cheats only after they've killed enough people for the marketplace to notice. The purpose of food regulation is to avoid the initial deaths. Get it?
CAPITALISM
Germinating a new criminal every hour.
.
damn those capitalist! America should be marxist communists right? smfh amazing the absolute treasonous traitors that are rife on cnn...
As long as people selfishly keep breeding at an uncontrollable pace, having more than one child per couple, the problem will continue to get worse. There's just not enough "good" food to go around, folks. There's a big game of bait 'n' switch going on, and the government is actually complicit in it. As long as they can keep our bellies full of SOMETHING, people are happy.
Yeah, blame the victim AND grind your own unrelated ax while you're at it...
Go back to China.
Americans waste 33 million tons of food. There actually is enough food to go around, but it is not "going around".
Yes. You're right!
Human overpopulation is the root cause of most of the world's greatest problems. Most people don't want to face that fact. They think it's their divine right to procreate ad infinitum. I'm sure humans will continue making babies as they always have. I'll be dead & gone, thank God, before the human overpopulation reaches critical mass, it gets real ugly in this world. Just watch and see what happens and is happening now...
For the naysayers – One small example result of human overpopulation is Easter Island. Study it and learn something.
Feel free to leave this planet anytime! I believe there's a ship going to Mars in a few years...climb aboard!
KawiMan is right. Educated people contribute to the solution by having less than two kids. Any more than that and you're part of the problem. Quality, not quantity. Besides, Joe, your brood won't be able to get a job when they grow up and they'll be living in your basement until age 35.
Overpopulation is a general issue, however, it would not apply to this case. This is more about making money and providing something completely different than what someone actually ordered.
Some clown on this thread said itwas GOP deregulation.Joke..Its impossible to inspect each container of fish that comes to our ports from overseas.It would be possible to have cities and counties health inspectors take samples from cafes however.Nothing to do with GOP.
Agree that human overpopulation is the root cause of this and other global problems. Fish is a source of food for many populations. Today, 80% of the world's fisheries are fully- to over-exploited, depleted or in a state of collapse. Right now, there are 7 billion+ people on the planet. Almost one billion people around the world go hungry each day. And we’re on track to add another couple of billion people by the end of the century. Unless we get a handle on population growth, issues with sourcing fish and other food are only going to grow.
That is harmful fraud. The consumer is being hurt by this dishonesty. Take away their license to sell immediately. Close down their stores. Let honest people sell.
This makes me so angry!!!! ://////////
this story makes me wonder whether my beans really were flagelots...
bon apetit, omni suckers!
The general public is being lied to about a lot of things. I am sure most of the "certified organic" food that people buy is not really CO.
I remember reading an article in the "National Fisherman" magazine about 30 years ago, about the discovery of a process where the offshore factory processing ships could use the discarded products from cleaning fish, to manufacture a white fish looking substance. The added artificial color in streaks here and there and started selling it as "surimi" (don't know if that spelling is correct) and as an "artificial" crab meet. It was fish entrails and other products. The National Fisherman magazine reported it, and I expected to see lots of follow up articles, but don't recall ever seeing any other mention of it in any media. But I sure so see lots of "artificial crab" offered in seafood markets all the time. Although not cheap nowadays, it is less expensive than the genuine article and apparently pretty popular. I wonder how much of this imitation crab meat gets sold as the real thing. I don't know. But I have always declined to buy it anyway, after having read the article about the ingredients that go into its production aboard the factory trawler/processing ship.
It is still widely available...
Surimi is made from pacific pollack. It is not made from inedible parts, but from the meat and can be made to imitate crab, lobster or shrimp. It does taste quite a bit like the original (but not quite) and has a similar texture (but not quite). Pollack is pretty good in its own rite-that's what McDonalds' new fish bites are. The point is that it is all good, unlike the farm-raised trash like tilapia that really aren't suitable for eating and often raised where they can feed on pig or chicken crap.
With over two decades in the international seafood industry, I can say that the feeding of tilapia with feces is not a valid concern. To say it exists is likened to a backyard gardener putting feces in his compost pile. It happens and it is not regulated and it is not put into the commercial supply chain for export. Today's tilapia farming-for-export sector relies on prepared feeds by companies like Cargill and Bayer. Tilapia farmed in China is safe as food can get. It may not be the most culinarily prestigious protein but it has little to no food hazard.
Sorry Donk, but using tilapia as feces eaters is very common in the US....yes, the tilapia also get some feed pellets as well, but that is not the main part of their diet. You may speak for the international tilapia farmers, but I know for a fact that a few different fishfarms in california and florida have specific pens for the tilapia to filter out their water, water that was used for striped/white bass, as well as catfish and rainbow trout farms.
Hey, who needs wasteful spending big government regulations ruining hard-working, honest, big corporations bringing delicious, always safe and wholesome food to everyone's table at low prices and no higher than fair CEO salary, stock and benefits packages . . . . I wonder where the higher up Republican's eat?
I don't care, as long as the clueless establishment isn't trying to lay some Talapia on me.
Talapia Fish n Chips
Talapia Ceviche
Talapia Grilled
Talapia Sandwich
it used to cost like 1.99 a pound, and was a cheap alternative for home use, at our discretion. until every clueless restaurant out there saw it as a way to cut corners and stiff the consumer. The restaurant demand has grown so big for it, that talapia cost more than Snapper, Corvina, or Salmon in many SoFlorida stores. They asked for it, they've got it. But I refuse to eat Talapia out, like I said, it was a good alternative for HOME use. When I even see the word Talapia on a menu in a restaurant, I abruptly get up and me and my table of 6 walk out of the place. I can cook superior fish at home for half the price. You just lost a customer for life, Moron.
Cut some more corners ACE!
Fish and chips with Tilapia is Ok, Tilapia sandwich is Ok, but if you see Tilapia ceviche on the menu, run for your life!
It's NOT OK especially when you consider, talipia is supposed to be the alternative,
But if every establishment is selling it, then it creates demand issues, which inturn make it more expensive than a more premium fish. Then I'd rather pay less and then go to a place that sells COD fish and chips. Talapia is no COD when it comes to fish and chips.
I agree with you, Ted. When you order the premium fish, you're probably getting tilapia anyway (according to this article), so you might as well just buy the more expensive tilapia in the store (It's still cheaper than the premium-priced mis-labeled tilapia "snapper")
Like I said my wife has been serving Talapia since it first showed up on store shelves here in the states from Asia about 10 years ago. I know talapia. When it is substituted for the fish I order. Such as Cod, Corvina, or Grouper or Mahi mahi.
As for Snapper, I only eat whole snappers fried. Or trout, you can't pass talapia off as trout.
I'm not a fillet kinda guy, that goes for those blackened or almondine menu items where talapia could be passed off as those filets. When I order Fish and Chips, I ask the waiter first what is the fish. If they aren't 2 inch cubes of white flaky fish with that distinct Cod flavor, this Kid isn't paying for it.
But my pet peeve goes beyond being lied to, I just don't like to see it on the menu period, especially when a restaurant always served the appropriate fish for the dish, but thinks by replacing the item with Talapia would be a good move. I see it as a cheepass move on the management of the establishment and it throws the whole operation into question. What else are they cutting corners on to save money. It raises a big red flag, and it these economic times, there's no telling what you're being served in any dish in a place like that.
If the owner was concerned about turn over and profit on a fish dish, then they should just do away with that menu item period.
The other fish that also sends me out of the door are...
swai, pollac, and basa
What many people fail to realize is, most of the tilapia you buy has been farm raised...which sounds great, however, they are raising the tilapia to eat the poop from the pens of the more lucrative species. For all of you that like eating the wastebasket of the fishfarm, feel free and continue.
You can take the tilapia out of the farm...
woo. we got a real bad ass here.
Tilapia has only become so popular because restaurants and food companies are trying to attract Latino customers. The fish itself is crap (not to be confused with carp).
Talapia is so bland when compared to Cod. I dont know how anyone can mistake them.
Buy cheap fish because it tastes the same as the more expensive stuff you think you are eating. Unless it gets you sick what does it really matter in the end if you enjoyed it and thought the meal was worth what you paid.
Cheap fish = high levels of toxicity, thats why they are cheap in the first place.
Not necessarily. Tilapia = fast-growing, culturable freshwater fish hence it's cheap. I think it's relatively clean of toxins.
Top predator or long-lived fish = high toxicity because they bioaccumulate toxins from all the other critters they eat. These include tuna, which can fetch a high price.
You are right, price is not always a good indication of quality or taste, but more to the point most people just don't know the difference between the really good and expensive fish and cheap so-so tasting fish. I don't think that's an excuse to cheat though.
Someone below said check the country of origin too. Some of the farmed fish in Asia are fed human feces. blech.
Did you ever wonder why all pig farms have catfish ponds in the good ole US of A? Human waste or pig, what's the difference?
Eat more mullet! It has a great taste (not tasteless like grouper and snapper) and it us usually sold whole so its identification is easier. But mullet has increased in price, up to nearly $7 per pound at Florida's Publix Supermarkets. I am fearful that a lot of seafood sold is not what it is labeled to be. Where did those oysters or clams come from? It is confusing and now even made scary since we can no longer rely on honesty in labeling by those selling it to us. I like seafood, and this problem is a serious one for me. If self regulation in the industry isn't working, and if government regulation isn't working either, then what is the solution?
Hey that shrimp SWORE it was a real Rolex. I guess I better have it checked.
This is one of my pet peeves. I went to a on the water seafood place in Daytona for a grouper sandwich to late find out (thru an employee) it was Basa (Vietnamese catfish). Haven't gone there since and won't. This is an easy way to ripoff customers. Too bad some portable method isn't available for testing what you order.
Wait a minute...I can live with CitiBank and AIG and Enron and the entire Republican party being a bunch of lying b@st@rds...but now, Mrs. Pauls? That's too much...
Go hang yourself
Long John Silver's, "Look out!"
☆☆☆☆☆ Health begins..........☆☆☆☆☆
Pay $50 for an all water fishing license. Take the kids and catch your own fish.
good luck with catching salmon and grouper, by the time you make a meal your kids will be in college haha
Good thing I only buy cheap fish
If I ever buy more expensive fish I will only get it whole
You start regulating these fisherman, and it's going to hamstring capitalism. Besides, we can't afford to regulate fish producers...we're going under sequestration, which will through some miracle of the Free Market take care of the problem. Freaking socialists.
You're right, over-regulation is bad. So is under-regulation. Either one 'hamstrings' the economy, except that it's easier to adjust laws than it is to restore fisheries once they're gone. It's a discussion that needs to happen to find the right balance.
And this article is about stopping fraud anyway– it's not hard to justify enforcing laws in that regard.
First of all, this is blatant consumer FRAUD being discussed here, not some trivial little marketing issue! Secondly, it is in the BEST interest of the entire fishing industry to properly MANAGE what IS and is NOT being fished in such huge numbers! The so-called "free market" you are worshiping is not entirely "free" and never has been! If we simply leave the "free market" alone and let the fishing industry do whatever they wish, then we will quickly see the END of lucrative commercial fishing when ALL of the most popular species are OVERFISHED at break-neck speed! What will the "free market" do when there are no more reserves of popular fish to replace what they have depleted? I suppose they will start serving us CARP labeled "Pacific Salmon"! I can hardly wait...
If the industry cant be trusted to regulate itself then something needs to be done about it, pure and simple. If they didnt commit the fraud then nothing would need to be done.
The U.S. Government should get more aggressive investigating and persecuting fraud, not so much to put swindlers in jail, as to slap huge fines on the companies that commit fraud – good for the federal budget, good for consumers. Aside from that, the advice to buy whole fish is quite funny if you know how much a whole tuna weighs and how much it costs.
We should just do what McDonald's does: grow fish filets in a petri dish in a lab. No problem.
There are scientists that have been able to take human waste(poo) and turn it into a steak that you can eat. Looks like a real steak and everything.
Poo?
We need more of this kind of reporting, but in a less breathy, over-caffeinated fashion...and not totally convoluted, as was the case. Anyone who listened carefully knows that Ms. Kinsman had everything backward ("Snapper was being substituted for much less expensive fish; Tuna was often substituted for...white tuna"). The screen scroll writers had it mostly right. The two typically madcap anchors apparently missed the gaffs, as they kept nodding and uh-hu-ing. I'm getting the impression that CNN is recruiting from the Comedy Channel and Saturday Night Live.
Actually what happened was that the sound was screwed up in my earpiece and I could hear myself a half second behind. It's really hard to operate when that happens, but I did my best.
Every location caught should be forced to shut down the business and the owners should be barred from reopening!
Agree!!
Of course that's if they knew. It will get difficult to judge that unless they check with the source under cover. What if the people selling the fish to these places happen to be lying as well?
Great study and I am done going out for sushi. 95% mislabeled is ridiculous. Sad part is most Americans will keep shoveling non-organic pesticide ridden food and mislabeled food in their mouths while washing it down with non-filtered tap water and wonder why they have cancer and other diseases. You have to be involved and educated in this money is everything world which could care less about your safety and health.
Yeah, I caved a few months ago and had a few pieces of sushi–i'm pregnant–god knows it wasn't salmon, it was a fish much higher in mercury content. I know i'll probably be okay, and so will the baby, but it's still disheartening.
Does that mean that Charlie is not really a Tuna?
Their substituting good tasting tuna with "tuna" with good taste.
In Chicago they served Jesse Jackson Jr as a fraud. Imagine that...a fraud from Chicago politics. Hmmmmmm sounds familiar.
Not much seafood comes from Chicago so I don't get your point.
I know, right? Democrats do time, Republicans retire and write books.
Why call it mislabeled and not fraud? Another thing I have noticed here in the PNW is that they sell some cheap flounder as Dover Sole, which is one of the most delicious and expensive fish species.
mmmhh I'll think I'll go back to eating my pink slime ,
or Solyent Green.
Wait until Frankenfish will be in the market!
It already is.
ITS PEOPLE!! SOYLENT GREEN IS MADE OUT OF PEOPLE!!!!!!
So would you call that a.... Manwich??
VENT: What is with the Soylent Green on CNN message boards? I don't understand why everybody thinks it will make them look cultured or knowledgeable by quoting that "Soylent Green is people" when they are only parroting what they saw other posters writing. It is driving me crazy. NONE OF YOU HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE! NONE OF YOU!!! /vent
I've seen it a few times. His favorite color was orange.
these are great results.
cutting out government inspectors.
letting industry "police itself"
american system works well.
let's cut more government
The GOP enjoys getting carp served to them when they pay $40/plate for red snapper.
Folks, we have no idea what we're eating. We honestly don't. Whether it's fish, other meat, or even certain vegetables, herbs, etc. One could just as easily write an article about mis-labeled lettuce, which happens all the time as well. Having said that, I would encourage everyone to TRY to understand where your meat and fish come from. Much easier to do if you shop local markets and butcher shops, vs big-box grocery stores. I understand that not everyone can afford to do so, but if you can you'll typically get a higher quality product.
As far as the moral imperative to be vegetarian- give us a break. These animals aren't self-aware, most aren't capable of living in the wild at this point, and if they were we'd be screaming about how they are overpopulated and grazing on all of our precious vegetables and how they need to be "controlled". Lions eat people, people eat cows. It's been that way for millennia.
Stick with lobster, shrimp, scollops, crab!! MMMMM. Shellfish cant be misconstrued. Or a LOT harder. who wants to eat shady fish anyway....good thing this just came out during lent...hahahaha everyones going to be paranoid now
sure...stick with the bottom feeders...so much healthier
if the shrimp is packaged read the backside you might just find that your frozen shrimp comes from thailand.
dc YOU are what I call a true idiot....and sadly most people are very close to your same intelect. People have been taking it up the ass for a milenia too. SO follow the leader.
"In Boston", said Jane, "it makes sense"
"to go for the specialty, hence,"
"I've come to get scrod." And her friend said, "That's odd."
"You've used the past pluperfect tense."
Wouldn't the pluperfect be "I had come to get scrod" ?
Only in the liberal media is seafood fraud a top story and a poll worker voting for Obama 6 times, and 20 other known cases of voter fraud in that same county in a swing state not even remotely newsworthy.
A lot of people eat fish – liberals, conservatives, and others. Your reference to Obama makes no sense for this article; you are just using this forum to spout your opinions on a completely unrelated topic.
PS: I voted for Romney and I am a conservative so don't even start with the, "Great, another liberal," stuff.
I made a simple observation. If you don't like it, don't read the comment. It's just very telling that CNN is more worried about a talapia being labeled a grouper and not an election official voting 6 times.
@Gotta–I know it's difficult to look to the left side of the page and read all of those big words, but you're requested story on the voter fraud in Cincy is on CNN's main page. Please pay attention or just comment to the rest of the voices in your head
It's odd but I saw that story on the front page. Maybe your computer didn't want to show it to you?
You don't like it, don't read th article.
You made a simple observation on the Eatocracy blog. I think this is where you erred in judgment.
It is newsworthy in that it it is a potential health hazard for some people. The economic fraud is also newsworthy. Maybe not "Breaking News" material but certainly worth reporting.
So why don't you go to FAUX, Newsmax or something more patable to your miniscule brain?
I found the story you were referring to on Fox News, but I had to search for voter fraud to find it. I also found the same story on CNN through a search for voter fraud. Considering that both sites have the story, but you have to find it through the same means I would say their coverage on it is about equal. With that being said, your liberal media comment is silly.
Really? You decided to take a totally unrelated story just so you could spout your geo-political rhetoric? WOW! Get over it, Romney and Ryan lost. It's over. A done deal. Move on.
Haven't you heard? Your guy lost the election. Live with it.
Thanks for your input. You can go back to digging your bunker now...
Look out behind you!! It's the ATF!! or is it the NSA??!!...just kidding
Please STFU, otherwise you will make people think all conservatives are illiterate idiots.
Oh here we go again. Why does EVERY SINGLE article online end up becoming politicized? I once saw a comment under an article about a tornado, and now 'it's Obama's fault.' Is that all you people do....troll every article to throw in your political bias? What about staying on topic? How do you even get through a normal day?? How old are you??
Horsemeat sushi !! Yum
Sorry, but we'll be cutting these agencies back even further with our coming, non-targeted cuts. Just shut up and eat the gray mass they stick in front you.
I thought my wife was a good catch but she was a tilapia trying to pass for a Chilean Sea Bass.
at least she's still edible
LOL
throw her back?
Now all of my Co-workers think I am insane because of how loud I just started laughing at the throw back remark.
Who needs government.
We The People don't care to have oversight on the free market. We do not need someone that cost money to inspect food to tell us labels don't matter anymore.
We need small, underfunded government agencies to not do the jobs they are tasked to do – just appear as if they do.
Republican Manifesto #46
Please just speak for yourself. There is no WE the people that don't want oversight; I DO. I LIKE eating things that have been inspected, that are what they say they are, no super-high level of mercury....you know, that kind of thing.
However, just for yourself, feel free to check out Somalia. They have a VERY small government, and aren't bothered by things like poisoning due to no food standards or inspection.
WE might get lucky, and YOU won't survive it.
Tparty stinks.
Uh, turn on your sarcasm sensor and your ironimeter.
Sarcasm.
Years ago before ahi tuna became so popular, I would order it and get a huge slice then over the years the portions got smaller and smaller....now it's all fake and I stopped ordering it. I haven't had a real piece of ahi in a restaurant in years. I still dream about the large pieces they used to serve- oh well. I don't even like meat ahi was the only one I truly enjoyed. It's too bad so many others liked it too. Too many people, too much over fishing.
You must gotta love CAPITALISM.
Germinating more and more criminals by the day.
.
I didn't know ENRON was into seafood processing these days.
There are only two things that smell like fish . . . and one of them is fish.
LOL and the other is tuna
don't forget Mrs. Pauls...
There is a portion of society that either ends up in jail or the restaurant business. Didn't Anthony bourdain tell us something like this over 10 years ago. "The commercial kitchen is described as an intense, unpleasant and sometimes hazardous place of work staffed by what he describes as misfits. "
Dear wait staff, if you think it is OK to spit in someone's food, then you are deeply disturbed. If waiting is making you feel "less than" get another job.
So: "Grouper was often replaced with at-risk species including Gulf grouper and speckled hind" Grouper is grouper – whether it's speckled hind, Warswa, black (7 species), scamp, kitty mitchell, snowy, red grouper....when I label my fish or tell my restaurant customers it's grouper – I tell them WHICH species it is. ALSO: red snapper NOT endangered. If it were, they wouldn't let the Texas fleets in Galveston, Freeport or Port Isabel (or rest of Gulf state fisherman) fish at all – we get 7.8 million lbs. quota right now and feds will probably raise it to 8.2 million next year. FInally- out of 12 months our guys are lucky to fish 7 months out of the year. Since January – we've only had 2 good weeks harvest because of rough weather. San Miguel Seafood, Austin, Tx. sanmiguelseafood.com
Roberto, can't wait to get to the Coast again, all you guys work hard and provide good food for us.
I think this report being by an environmental group is not trustworthy.
Not again!! Those sneaky b@st@rds...
Hey Larry!! Wondered where you were...call when you get back!!
Ever seen yellow haddock ? Me neither. I often see fish that looks wrongly labelled. Also did you know that a spray has been developed which takes away the smell that fish gives off when it is getting past it's sale by date.
Something very fishy up in here!
God's Kingdom the only HOPE for mankind.
Every facet of this system is corrupt. Greed is KING, the attitude is the bottom line.
These people don't care about mankind.
Why do you think we have so many sickness, all types of diseases?.
The system is saturated with wicked people. There is not a part of this entire world that is not corrupt. That is another reason people want guns, FEAR, Lack of TRUST.
The old adage of "One bad apple spoils the whole bunch is no longer true, all of the apples are bad,(even if their first intentions were to do good) you cannot walk through mud in a white suit and not get dirty. " all need to go.
Matthew 6:9,10 God's Kingdom the only Hope for mankind. Period Over and OUT!
This is really a symptom of an uninformed consumer. I ran a Seafood restaurant for 10 years, we labeled everything on our daily fish menu with country of origin, and indicated truthfully whether the the item had been frozen or was in fact "fresh". It always stung a little when a new place would open and be selling frozen Malaysian swai as Fresh Florida Grouper. People just don't know and in any cases, and if the price is right they often don't care.
If the price seems to be to good to be true, it probably is adulterated.
So, which restaraunts, fish markets, and suppliers are guilty? Would like to know so I can avoid
You will never know. Some 40% of seafood from China is incorrectly labled. Also, don't eat Tilapia if you don't know it's origin. In Chinese fish farms, the fish are fed human feces!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I do not buy seafood from China. I always make sure where it's from.
As I noted previously, on American catfish farms the fish are fed pig feces. So what?
I would avoid the group that made the report hidden agenda.
There is no hidden agenda. Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Julia Carolyn Child both warned of the problems of willfull mislabeling of seafood. Both were concerned with the effect on marine ecology of overfishing and how misled consumers could not make informed choices about purchasing sustainable seafood. If ALL people involved with the seafood busines do not commit to scientifically accurate lableing the catch ALL the time, then the rest of the market system does not get acurate information on which to make purchasing decisions.
All of them. Runaway-train wreck Capitalism is the root cause. I stopped eating seafood 30 years ago after witnessing what actually goes on in that industry.
Guess it doesn't hurt to keep this story in the news, hoping someone will take action... The importers that profit from mislabeling will keep any real legislation from denying them their right to defraud the consumer.
Whew! I thought they were going to tell me my Icelandic cod was actually horse.
neigh! neigh! neigh!
Mislabeled fish is probably due more to ignorance than fraud.
Damn people and their false fish
Ag-gag laws that are being passed by states in America will make it a crime to report food related issues.
Dang it, I knew that king crab meat at 99 cents a pound was too good to be true!
Only two things smell like fish. One of them is fish.
su·shi (ssh)
n.
Cold cooked rice dressed with vinegar that is shaped into bite-sized pieces and topped with raw or cooked fish, or formed into a roll with fish, egg, or vegetables and wrapped in seaweed.
sa·shi·mi (sä-shm)
n.
A Japanese dish consisting of very thin bite-size slices of fresh raw fish, traditionally served with soy sauce and wasabi.
Dept. of Ag needs to help 'merkuns farm fish. We import billions of toxic, poorly kept seafood from around the globe. Oh, and we all need our industrial jobs back, corporate monarchists.
Dept of Ag needs to stay out of it altogether. It makes dummies of consumers and does nothing. It always amazes me when some government department is a fail yet people call for more of the same.
It is not the government that is defrauding us. It is the private sector: supermarkets, restaurants, canneries, etc.
This ridiculous belief that government can never do anything right is merely proof that Conservative brainwashing is very effective.
No, it's not the Govt that is defrauding us. That's because they only inspect about 2% of all food imports. Mfgs in places like China or India will replace expensive ingredients with cheap additives or won't add them at all. Most of the times the additives are toxic or carcinogenic. They do this only to increase their profits, because they know American Consumers can't come back at them to recouperate for a loss.
If the government weren't checking up on this the fraud wouldn't exist, eh? You believe in fairies and unicorns too, right?
The government does it's fair share of fraud and acts that remind me of something the mafia would conduct. They are not saints! They are money grubbers and they get some of the money that comes from fraudulant fish. What makes you think they care about you as a consumer?! The FDA probably strong armed the people conducting this study to include the FDA's name in this article so that us sheep can continue to think they are saints only looking out for our best intrest. Yeah right!!! Total BS! And no, I am not a conspiracy theorist. I am just interested in the truth and the truth isn't as hard to find as Mulder made it seem.
I suppose that you think that every consumer should have to do an hours worth of research before buying every single product? Caveat Emptor has no place in modern society.
catch it clean it eat it --– only way to be sure it's fresh and where it came from
I hope you know I was only relating this story to the current budget crisis and that I am sure the Tea Party only wants to make everyone equally poor. I also am trying to share that the " Do nothing Conress" last term is being overcome by the one we have today that wants to be worse than them by creating this crisis and breaking Govt worse. I feel I need to also state, shame on them for putting the public at risk by laying off Federal Employees if they refuse to solve this budget problem soon. I feel some folks saw my first input as what I want to see happen in Congress. Also, my "Go Tea Party" comment should have been followed with the "not joke" punch line .... "NOT". hope this helps.
Do you think that the House majority leader stating that the "TOP Priority is making Obama a one-term president" had Anything to do w/ the "Do Nothing Congress" of last term? How on Earth could you expect ANYone to get anything done when powerful, cynical, racist leaders act like children and juggle with the livelihoods of Americans to play bully in their foolish political games.
Tea parties are for little girls with imaginary friends. Which are all the friends left to th GOP congress. If they didn't like sequester, why did they vote for it? And brag about it, including Boner and Paul? Of course various underfunded departments don't function. We need to revamp and stop subsidizing ADM and Monsanto and various oil companies and banks, and start spending money in ways tha actuallyl benefit us. Without regard to congressmen owned by various industries.
not to mention the horsemeat mislabeled as fish
Buying whole fish is the way to go. I always kow what the species is. Whether it is farmed or not can also be determined by what the fish looks like, (Salmon especially) but not always. Sadly, there are a lot of people out there that could not tell ther difference between a Tilapia and a Trout. Stop staring at your cell phones and learn something about the world you live in!!
Wait a minute, can't I use my smartphone to identify the fish?
Bazinga!
Just "bump" your Samsung on any fish and it will ID it for you.
last time I bought a whole tuna, I had enough tuna fish for 36,000 sandwiches. I don't know enough people to eat all that.
The thing is that not every consumer is able to identify the fish themselves, simply by looking at it. In fact, most are not. We don't have a choice but to rely on whoever sells it to us.
Good. At least someone is going after the consumer fraud in the food industry. Consumers get sick, ripped off and no reparations. False labeling is false advertising.
Sushi is cooked vinegared rice, not fish.
Reasons I am a vegetarian:
1. There is no proven medical, scientific or biological reason that humans have to eat non-humans.
2. There are lots of proven medical, scientific or biological reasons that eating non-humans is harmful to humans.
3. There is no "nice" or "humane" way to slaughter and kill a non-human.
4. The methods today of producing non-human food for consumption are the most economically inefficient, environmentally destructive processes in history.
5. The drugs and hormones force fed to non-humans in order to keep them alive in squalor and to increase "production" are having a deleterious effect on human health.
1. Tens of thousands of years of humans/humanoids being omnivorous would disagree.
blah blah blah blah, shut up vegan
And what supplements to you take to compensate for the lack of meat in your diet? If you don't now...you will.
Wrong. Read a book, will you?
Yet you'll eat a non-human piece of rice? Why? Because if it doesn't scream when you rip it from the ground it has been slaughtered humanely? Eat what you eat because you want to but don't try to hide behind some do gooder morals that are simply made up.
Pachy is obviously not aware of what allowed humans to evolve mentally. This explains why vegetarians tend to be incredibly obtuse.
That's what I was thinking...lol
Ah, it all makes sense why vegitarians are obtuse. Look at Congress, they are obtuse, so, we can assume they are vegis. Potatoe heads, thats what they are.
To me it sounds like pachy is trying to make a case to eat humans. Is that sick or what?
In LA they drink them.
There are no old vegans.
do you eat jello?
If you have so many issues of eating "non-human" that you should just other humans instead.
Bunch of typos, sorry. Should have been, "You have so many issues with eating "non-human" that you should instead switch to eating humans.
I love vegetarians.
They are awesome if slow cooked with the right spices.
Thanks for all the fish. Good bye sushi.
there's an article from the journal "Lucky Peach" some months ago that showed the effects of the immense demands of the Sushi industry on fish populations and production. It was pretty gross seeing how farmed salmon is pretty much not the healthiest stuff out there, how eel farming is both gross and also is depleting populations...and did you know that quite a bit of sushi fish distribution is controlled by an organization owned by the late Sun Myung Moon?!?
I've had numerous occasions where restaurants have tried to serve me tilapia as grouper, or halibut. It's a joke. Unfortunately, it's a joke that most people fall for. I'm at the point where I only eat fish at home, or in restaurants that I know well. Fortunately, my local market has their act together on fish and I have never found anything mislabeled.
I live in Florida and admittedly do not know my fish very well at all. I do know that when I order fried grouper sandwiches, I can tell a difference in the fish based on whether the cost of the sandwich is over or under 10 bucks. You can tell the texture/chunkiness is off on the cheaper sandwiches. Why don't they just call it a "fish" sandwich and stop lying!?! We've had big issues with this in florida in the past and obviously, they still haven't figured out how to make the suppliers and servers be honest about it!
I guess people don't know their fish...
some people live in land loked areas where fish isnt the norm on the dinner plate. WEIRD
Many people live on the coast where Cattle are not typically raised yet somehow manage to understand the difference between a NY Strip and a Center Cut Filet. WEIRD.
Only by shape. If you cut a piece of chuck round and thick, many people would believe it is filet mignon. Most people know beef based on shape and bone, not texture or taste. Furthermore, what we are talking about here is not a particular cut of fish but type of fish. Do people really know the difference in the types of cows? Could they identify if the meat was horse or cattle? The question is not the part of the fish, as it is with beef, but what particular fish.
Try the Sea Bass at Frank and Alberts located at the Arizona Biltmore, its not Sea Bass.
Real sea bass is rarely served in restaurants. Though tasty, it is on the small end of the Grouper/Snapper complex and just doesn't make visual plate impact. Chilean Sea Bass is in reality a Patagonian Toothfish, and is being dangerously overfished. What most people get on their plate when they order "Sea Bass" is one of a number of fishes called Corvina, which is in the Croaker/Drum group, and are quite sustainable (and delicious).
The trick isn't to prevent people from serving fraudulent fish, but to educate both vendors and servers how good fish with less popular names can be, and just label accordingly.
WHAT? Asians cheating? No... not possible.
Yeah. What happened to good ole days when they were just selling us dog, cat and rats?
Stick with wild caught fish. Fish farmers do not care to know their impact on the world's human or fish populations.
That doesn't make sense!
What he meant was they won't purposely mislabel something just because it's not a fish that should be caught
business is business ! people will do anything for that extra buck! and for all of you here talking about fish farming,please do your home work,fish farming still way better then any cow farm!! and no gmo
My concern with fish farming lies within the PCB contamination of the feed given to the fish and the farm fish genome escaping into the wild population.
dude, when you farm fish they are in special tanks away from the rest of the wild population thus not affecting population one way or the other. christ get a brain
Depends on the type of fish your'e farming asshole. The majority of farmed fish consumed in the world include salmon and sea bass, which are farmed primarily in open systems. Sure any dumbass can farm tilapia or catfish in their back yard.
He must think fish farms are only somewhere in Iowa and won't effect or accidentally be put into the open ocean system. That's right Jer, they grow the fish right next to your corn. Time to smoke another bowl buddy.
Jer, Depends on the type of fish your'e farming. The majority of farmed fish consumed in the world include salmon and sea bass, which are farmed primarily in open systems.
Jer – fish are not always farmed in enclosed tanks in buildings. Shrimp are also not farmed this way – they are actually farmed in mangrove areas that are destroyed in the process. In addition to PCB levels in farmed fish, it takes huge amounts of fishmeal and oil to raise salmon in farms. Tuna raised in "ranches" are taken from the sea, irrespective of their age, size or breeding status, depleting wild populations.
Rather than insulting people by telling them to get a brain, perhaps you should spend some time educating yourself.
There are not enough wild fish. Eventually, all fish consumed as food will need to be farmed like any other livestock. We are killing the oceans with overfishing. There needs to be an enforceable worldwide ban on bottom trawling. Farmed fish can be as safe as cattle and pork raised on farms.
It is true there are not enough wild fish. Especially when the world focuses on eating primarily four types (salmon, sea bass, tuna, and cod). During the World Wars when fishing was the least of concerns for Europe, the fish stocks in their north Atlantic fishing grounds nearly completely recovered from almost total depletion. What we need are more strict fishing quotas, and bans on fishing during species' spawning periods, giving the fish more time and freedom to reproduce and recover their stocks. The Hawaiians knew this and enforced their laws with the highest priority. They were the smartest of all fishing cultures.
Or another world war.
...From the Pentagon: One thing at a time please.
Eliminate the Federal regulation, trust the companies and make Federal employees take one day off a week at no pay. The industry leaders will control and police things like this in the open market, why is the Federal Govt waisting money on this ... let people solve their own issues. This is what Congress says, this is what is happening in Washington now by not passing a budget or solving budget issues, so it must be the right way to go ... and oh by the way, When the Federal employees have to take time off without pay ... don't lay them off to take those days off at one time so they can recieve unemployement like private industry does to help their employees. Make sure it is one day off, two days a payperiod so they can't recieve unemployement and provide for their families, that way they know they are being punished for finding fault with things like this story. We want them to feel punished because they are not valued or important to keeping us safe or operating as a country. You go Tea Party.
As long as you are ok with your company doing the same thing to you.
uh, that was tongue-in-cheek...
Cut government regulation at what level? Can you honestly trust the companies to regulate the correct labeling of their fish when without regulation of some sort they are the ones that would benefit most from not doing so?
That's right leave it to industry to do the right thing. You are an Imbecile industry is amoral it has one reason to exist and that is to make a profit.That is all go back a hundred years ago and look at the conditions of the meat packing houses in Chicago. It took muckrakers like Upton Sinclair to expose the horrors of that time. Perhaps you would like some fresh fish caught in Connecticut all of which are Mercury laden from the exhaust of massive coal fired generating plants in the midwest with their 400 foot tall smoke stacks which send the Mercury laden plumes East with the prevailing winds. You and your Tea party morons and Ron and Rand Paul worshipers should live in a backwards bizzarro world that would bwe the result of any of you repulsive idiots actually gaining power the power to destroy our society.
It's called satire, you may have heard of it? Not helping the cause. :( Reread, then apologize.
Yeah That's right, comment on a post after not reading it. it Makes you people look like imbeciles. Clearly his post was satire.
Why should we punish government employees? Would you work for nothing? Government workers work just as hard as private employees. They deserve to be paid. Only 3% of the federal budget goes to administration. Savaging the public workforce is not going to do anything about the budget deficit. Having said that, this has nothing to do with the fish story.
For two years Frank and Alberts restaurant at the Arizona Biltmore lied about the Sea Bass on their menu, it was just a cheap substitute. It was finally changed to the real thing after non-stop compaints from the wait staff.
Eat at Ruth Chris' across the street, who eats at Frank and ALberts anyway?
Its time people stopped eating fish, and meat for that matter. Go vegeterian!
Ya lets some e coli from the people crapping in the fields . I can hear the heads of lettuce now
No thanks. I'm not a hipster.
That's the Hipster thing to say.
Veggies are nastier than fish.
mmmmmmm, yeah, pesticides for everyone! yum yum!
Not only do I personally know the owner of the sushi place I frequent, but I also know the exact place he gets all of his seafood from, and I know he buys fresh every single day. Both have impeccable reputations. I trust both. I've been frequenting that place for almost 15 years, and zero health issues.
Just be a vegeterian and save all the fish
Save them for what?
For eating them later.
A functioning ecosystem.
People eating meat IS part of a functioning ecosystem. Except for those who think they can undo centuries of base human habits, programming and predator instinct just to be PC. I'll stop eating meat when people start being born without front incisor teeth.
You know, if everyone became a vegetarian tomorrow, the first thing we would have to do is kill all the useless animals we grew to eat. And if we stopped growing animals tomorrow, we would have to find jobs for hundreds of millions of people around the world. Or we could just wait for them to die of malnutrition, since there aren't enough of the right vegetables to feed the human race. OR we could just ignore you.
Only the misinformed are vegetarians. You were designed to eat meat, just look at your teeth (incisors) and the enzymes the human body produces (pepsin, trypsin, chymotrypsin) . All for meat, hence protein, consumption. Stop fighting mother nature.
You are correct that humans are omnivores. As a species, we pretty much ate anything we could find: animal, insect, leaf, stem, root, fungus, mold, etc.
But the food industry is putting a lot of crap into our food that is not good for us. While eating meat can be part of a healthy diet, what we get from grocery stores and restaurants is not good for us.
And, to those with a conscience, what the food industry does to animals is truly horrible to behold. You have seen movies about concentration camps, but you have never seen a movie about feed lots and packing plants.
It smells a little to fishy to me.
If it smells fishy, it's probebly not fresh.
Did you know that a spray has been developed which takes away the smell that fish gives off when it is getting past it's sale by date.
They also use carbon monoxide to keep the flesh from turning grey. They use it in meat as well.
No, I hadn't heard of that? Is there any more information on this matter?