So, I can feel somewhat complacent that horsemeat will not reach my lips. Because I only eat kosher meat, that circumstance where a “mistake” about sourced meat can’t really occur.
But, I do eat plenty of fish. And, for years, we’ve known that what I think I order- and what I get- are two different things. Especially in restaurants. Which is why I have a hard time ordering things in regular (non-kosher) restaurants.
Oceana has been studying our fish supply and how it’s marketed for some time. Letting us know that, when we order mahi-mahi, the odds are we getting trashy-trashy. Snapper- only 13% of the time is that we get. And, if we go to sushi restaurants- forget about it!
That latter point I know well. Having served as the CEO for a small, specialty kosher enterprise, we supplied our “kosher” shrimp to a variety of restaurants that were clearly NOT kosher. (To be honest, I have never had real shrimp or crab- but was told this ersatz material tasted just like it… And, given that fact, I have no freaking idea why anyone would bother buying and eating it.)
And, this new report from Oceana builds upon one they published in 2011, Bait and Switch, How Seafood Fraud Hurts. When that 2011 report came out, I circulated it to all my friends, because it verified a lot of suspicions I (and, I’m pretty sure, they) had.
I buy my fish whole- because there is no way I can be convinced that the filets that are sold really are what I am ordering. Oceana sustained my belief, with data showing that 1/3 of seafood sold in groceries is mislabeled. And, we are not just talking about selling farmed fish (which is cheaper) as wild-caught.
Their 2013 report (above, first hyperlink) describes their tests of purveyors in 21 states. The results are astounding. 27% of the grocery stores don’t sell what they claim, and 52% of conventional restaurants provide us with mislabeled food. But, 95% of sushi restaurants sell mislabeled seafood. That’s not sobering- it’s terrifying!
Couple these findings with the fact that less than 1% of our seafood is ever inspected for fraud (and about 2% is ever inspected at all) and you can see that, despite the advice of health authorities, eating seafood more frequently for the health benefits is less than satisfying.
The real problem for me is that the fraud increases with the value of the fish. So, my two favorites- red snapper and grouper- are rarely what is sold. Instead, we get tilapia. (At least that fish is kosher- but it certainly lacks the taste I love!)
One of the ideas to stop this fraud is to require each fish sold to be identified with a number- like your social security number. That way, we (the consumer, the chef, etc.) can see from where the fish emanated (the ship, the purveyor)- and follow it along the distribution channels in the US.
Until then, we have to find responsible food purveyors like ProFish. They are now starting the DNA testing of all their fish. And, they will publish their results on a web-based database, so one can see what one is really buying- when they are the supplier. They hope to have this up and running for their top 20 selling species (salmon, rockfish, among them) by April. (They will expand the system, as they work out the kinks.)
From who will you be buying your fish?
This is especially interesting to me and a coincidence for our picture post today! Fresh seafood from local suppliers is the best way to guarantee that what you see is what you eat!
You betcha, Alessa!
I go to a local place, where I get to pick the fish- and watch it beheaded in front of me. (My other favorite place went belly up [had to use that expression] about 22 months ago…)
Fish Tales http://t.co/RWdGiGpkwn via @Adjuvancy
Let me first say that kosher shrimp and crab does NOT taste like the real deal….just say’n. I’m a pescetarian I a veggie eater that still eats fish, and I’ve been reading all about this whole “the fish you get isn’t what you think” thing and it kind of turns my stomach. I hope they get some regulation going on here. But then it would probably mean they’d have to test the fish for things they don’t now…which also would make me a happier guppy eater.
As long as you stick to guppies and not puppies, Lisa…
Glad to know about that shrimp and crab (since I wondered how one develops such a ken…)
I did not realize there was such a thing as non-kosher fish. But the sushi thing is truly terrifying. I assume salmon is mislabeled less frequently because of its color. Makes me wonder even about the canned tuna.
David:
Kosher fish requires the presence of fins and scales- at all times. As such, no catfish, swordfish, etc.
I think Salmon is often labeled as wild caught, when it is farmed.
Thanks for the visit and comment.
Fish Tales http://t.co/iNV5iR2TBB via @Adjuvancy << Worrisome if you eat a lot of fish.
Thx David…RT @amabaie: Fish Tales http://t.co/ejEE8exjiA via @Adjuvancy << Worrisome if you eat a lot of fish— Yes, it is!
No tall tale in this RT @Widow_Lady302: Fish Tales http://t.co/ejEE8exjiA via @Adjuvancy
Are you eating the fish you think you’re eating? http://t.co/B7KN25LzrI
This kind of thing really makes me angry. I am so tired of being cheated by greed. The main source of fish that we eat in my house is salmon, so I was grateful to see that that was the least likely to be mislabeled. I need to go to our local fish market more. Thanks for the heads up!
They could all, indeed, be crooks, Suerae.
But, given the fact that fisherman are now (over)fishing in distant waters, they may not know what they catch. They are told this is where one catches XYZ- and that’s what they call it. Or, they could be crooks.
Once they filet and flash freeze the fish, the dock managers may not know what the fish is, either. Or, they could be crooks.
We need DNA testing- and we need it now.
This really gets my ire up. First we find out that most of the olive oil we are buying is not olive oil, then we find that most of the honey is no more than sugar syrup, and now fish is being mislabeled!? This is so wrong.
Fake is the new reality, Amy. That’s what they sell us on TV, as well..
I wish I could post a happy face- but that would be a false mask.
A good friend’s son is a fish expert at the OU. I’ve posted this on my Facebook wall; will be interested in his comment.
Thanks for sharing this post, Alana. I appreciate it more than you can recognize at first glance.
RT @Adjuvancy: No tall tale in this RT @Widow_Lady302: Fish Tales http://t.co/ejEE8exjiA via @Adjuvancy
This is a brilliant blog Roy. What is the matter with these darned people, is labelling correctly so difficult? We are suffering with the same here, if only it were fish tho, we have horsemeat posing as beef and pork in our beef burgers which is most definitely NOT kosher !!!
I can’t attest to the problems with the latter statement, for obvious reasons (pork????).
See my comment to Suerae… the problem could be criminal, it could be naivete (albeit bordering on criminal negligence), or it could be befuddlement.
Time for education! And, enforcement!
Thanks for the visit and comment, Anita-Clare.