Tips for avoiding "Seafood Fraud"

 

Although seafood is one of the most popular foods in the United States, consumers are routinely given little or no information about where their seafood is from. Worse, the information provided on seafood labels is often misleading or outright fraudulent. In fact, a study of seafood sourcing by Oceana.org found that as much as one third of all the seafood sold in the US is "mislabeled". The problem was so pervasive that the study authors called it "seafood fraud".

A separate study of sushi sold at 26 different Los Angeles area restaurants conducted by UCLA researchers found that nearly half the sushi being served was made with an entirely different variety of fish than what the menu said.

So a significant percentage of the seafood you buy may not only not have been raised or harvested as advertised but may not even be the type of fish you think you are buying. One example from the Oceana Study: Tilefish, a fish with very high levels of mercury, was being labeled and sold as Alaskan halibut.

Some suggestions for protecting yourself against ending up with something fishy?

Shop at large chains. Seafood is mislabeled much less often at large grocery chains than at small markets. Large stores must follow USDA regulations while smaller stores and restaurants are exempt.

Buy salmon. The Oceana study revealed far lower levels of mislabeling of salmon than of any other fish variety.

Beware of bargains. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. If a price seems unreasonably low, it may be a sign it’s a mislabeled fish.

The problem varies from fish to fish. The three fish you need to be extra careful about buying due to frequent mislabeling are some of the most popular species: tuna, snapper, and grouper. Consumers should make sure to ask extra questions when buying these fish.

Buy the whole fish whenever possible. You can ask for it to be cut into fillets at the store. The more processed your fish and the more hands it passes through, the more opportunities for a bait and switch.

Don't let any of this put you off eating seafood. Just become a smarter, and more skeptical, shopper.