FRANKENFISH: HOW THE FISH YOU EAT MIGHT BE A FISH BUT BY ANOTHER NAME

courtesy: cuisinegenie.com

Caveat emptor: consumer beware.  But how is a consumer really to know if the fish he's eating is what the menu says it is?

Many people are unaware that there is a little switcharoo going on in some eating establishments.  Some less than fair restaurant operators and some other venues for fish eating and selling, are switching more expensive fare for its less expensive counterpart, i.e. a fish that looks and tastes similar to the one marked on the label or recipe.

It was not too long ago when a similar scam was discovered in some eateries when pork was being substituted for the more expensive veal cultlet.  But fish? 

Yes, fish.  As a matter of fact of 1,215 different eating establishments indipendently tested for DNA samples, 401 were deemed to have mislabeled the fish they sold.   

Mislabeling of fish is not a victimless crime.  For example if a fish is substituted with another, the consumer might not be aware of the allergy problems he could incur with the real fish he is eating.  The other problem is the fraud and economic cost of mislabeling fish for the purpose of shortcoming the consumer.  

Tuna, for example, is often found to be exchanged for the much cheaper escolar.  Problem is, this type of fish is banned, because it can cause severe gastric symptoms in the consumer. Other fishes are also banned because of high level of contaminants. Snapper, another commonly switched fish, was found to be substituted with as many as 33 different cheaper species of fish, including tilapia.  This also prevents agencies from regulating fish in those areas that have moratoriums for overfishing of one species or another.

Non sushi outlets for fish, such as restaurants, were not found to be guilty as frequently as sushi outlets.  Grocery stores were actually the most honest of the studied groups, with only 27% of the stores selling mislabeled fish. 

One of the problems is that the fisheries where the fish comes from might not always label the fish properly.  But the biggest problem comes from fish importation.  Of the imported fish, 52% is processed when still on the fishing vessel.  This makes tracking from origin to consumer extremely difficult.  

One case in question is that of fish seller Peter Xuong Lam, of Virginia Star Seafood corp.. He was found guilty of conspiracy to import catfish from Vietnam, which was then relabeled as sole, grouper, flounder, snakehead, and other species.  He was sentenced to prison and barred from importing seafood for the next 20 years.  

But this is just one of the examples. 

In 2012, Barney Frank and Edward Markey, both US representatives, have tried to introduce legislation that required full traceability from source to consumer.  As with many a worthy endeavor, the legislation was left on the Congress floor.  

Source: CNN 2.21.13