Seafood is popular throughout the world, and is even gaining popularity in some places, as medical professionals recommend it as part of a healthy diet. If you eat seafood, we want you to know that you could be the victim of seafood fraud. Do you know where your seafood is coming from? Read on to find out more.
What is Seafood Fraud?
Despite strict labeling laws for many food products in the United States and abroad, consumers often have to do some serious digging to find out where the seafood products they are consuming come from. In addition, the information which is provided is often misleading or downright fraudulent. In recent studies, seafood was proven to be mislabeled between 25 and 70 percent of the time. The worst culprits include fish like wild salmon, Atlantic cod, and red snapper; these tend to be substituted with fish that are cheaper or less desirable.
In a study conducted by Oceana, approximately a third of seafood sold in South Florida was found to be mislabeled. In this study, king mackerel was often labeled as grouper. The problem is, king mackerel is so high in mercury that pregnant women and people with compromised health should not consume it. Florida has made great strides in the fight against seafood fraud, with rigid inspection guidelines that include provisions for restaurant invoice audits. Offenders can be slapped with heavy fines or even lose their licenses.
Similar studies have discovered that up to 55% of seafood sold in Los Angeles, and as much as 48% of seafood sold in Boston is mislabeled. Other cities all over the United States had varying levels of seafood fraud. Among the worst offenders fish-wise were Sushi restaurants; in some cases, as many as 9 of 10 samples were not correctly labeled. Of great concern was so-called "White Tuna," which is actually Escolar - a dangerous fish to eat.
In another popular scam, scallops are often plumped up with excess water. While scallop meat naturally consists of about 75% water, samples taken from some major chains proved to consist of up to 91% water, along with nasty chemical additives that boost moisture retention. If you end up with treated scallops, you'll know it - the shellfish will not sear properly, excess water will leach out during cooking, and discoloration will often appear when heat is applied. While this dishonest practice is not likely to harm your health, it is terrible for your pocketbook.
Seafood Fraud can happen anywhere along the supply chain - restaurants, distributors, processers, and packaging are all capable of telling lies about what kind of fish is being offered for sale, and where that fish came from. Besides ripping you off, seafood fraud threatens your health since toxins, contaminants, and allergens vary from species to species. Investigators armed with DNA testing equipment are doing their best to make a difference, both to protect endangered fish species, and to prevent consumers from being ripped off or sickened by fish that isn't what vendors claim it is.
Finally, seafood fraud hurts in other ways. It prevents well-meaning consumers from making eco-friendly fish choices, it masks severe overfishing by providing the illusion that popular fish species are plentiful, and it creates a thriving market for the proceeds of illegal fishing by making illegally caught fish and other seafood products easy to launder. Seafood fraud hurts at-risk species, and it harms honest fishermen. Unless you're certain about what it is that you are eating, use caution. Protect yourself by looking for fish bearing the blue Marine Stewardship Council label - these fish are not endangered, and rigorous fishery and processing rules must be adhered to in order for the label to be applied.