Something's fishy here . . .

[imcarthur]

When people ask me what kind of restaurant/food I want, my usual answer is "No sushi, no liver". It looks like I have another reason now.

Excerpts

NYC . . .
- 58 percent of the 81 retail outlets sampled sold mislabeled fish (three in five).
- 100 percent of the 16 sushi bars tested sold mislabeled fish.
- 94 percent of the “white tuna” was not tuna at all, but escolar, a snake mackerel that has a toxin with purgative effects for people who eat more than a small amount of the fish.
- Thirteen different types of fish were sold as “red snapper,” including tilapia, white bass, goldbanded jobfish, tilefish, porgy/seabream, ocean perch and other less valuable snappers.

LA . . .
- Fraud was detected in 11 out of 18 different types of fish purchased.
- Every single fish sold with the word “snapper” in the label (34 out of 34) was mislabeled, according to federal guidelines.
- Nearly nine out of every ten sushi samples was mislabeled.
- Eight out of nine sushi samples labeled as “white tuna” were actually escolar, a species that carries a health warning for it purgative effects.

Miami/Ft Lauderdale . . .
- Overall, Oceana found 31% of seafood mislabeled in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale-area in this 2011/12 survey. Fraud was detected in half of the 14 different types of fish collected, with snappers and white tuna being the most frequently mislabeled.
- Red snapper was mislabeled 86% of the time (six out of seven samples).
- Sushi venues had the highest proportion of mislabeled samples, with more than half of samples (58%) mislabeled.
- White tuna was mislabeled 100% of the time, as was white fish and yellowtail purchased in sushi venues. Escolar, another fish with a health warning, was substituted for fish labeled “white tuna” and “white fish.”

Boston
- In total, 18 percent (16/88) of the species identified by DNA analysis were found to be mislabeled. The rate of mislabeling ranged from 14 to 23 percent for any given supermarket chain.
- The species of fish most commonly mislabeled in our study of Boston markets was Atlantic cod. Pacific cod was consistently substituted for Atlantic cod in our study. One supermarket chain sold Atlantic cod labeled as Pacific cod at one store, but sold Pacific cod labeled as Atlantic cod in another store.

Source: Oceana
Also: CNN

A similar survey in Canada two years ago had similar results.

Ian

[porsche4life]

But.... It's all tasty!

[Jferr006]

I knew about the "whte tuna" and avoid it but, yea.... so yummy.

[Jferr006]

purgative effects...ehh, I'm ok with that.

[2porscheguy]

Ian, I see your point with the sushi in restaurants thing but.....no reason why you can't have the liver!

....fried fresh veal liver with onions and ketchup.....hmm hmm good!!!

Actually, going back to the sushi, if you guys are ever in Kauai, you must go to the Hanalei Dolphin fish market in Hanalei Bay and try the fresh Ahi sashimi.....TO DIE FOR!!! I'm sure Tevake will confer with me on this.

Alex

[Aragorn]

Something on the news this morning about eating more lionfish....just not the spikey venomous fins.

There must be high profits in mislabeling fish. To be safe, maybe only buy the cheapest varieties.

[sammyg2]

Thats a shame that eating sushi won't be as impressive as it used to be.


When I order fish and chips I'm pretty darn sure I'm getting fish and chips.




Trivia: who was the girl in the vette that Hamilton was flirting with?

[dafischer]

No worries here, I don't eat "bait".

[krystar]

never ordered white tuna. tuna should be red color not white. otoro can be pink though. mmmm otoro

[sammyg2]

On a related note (sort of) a buddy caught a halibut off the coast of dana point recently. Bout 42 lubs worth.
he brought it home alive and I did the fillet thing and threw a few on the BBQ.
I watched as about a dozen little worms climbed out of the filets trying to escape the heat.
Still tasted good but was kinda gross.

Ya prolly shouldn't eat halibut sushi

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Thats a shame that eating sushi won't be as impressive as it used to be.


When I order fish and chips I'm pretty darn sure I'm getting fish and chips.




Trivia: who was the girl in the vette that Hamilton was flirting with?

Nancy Wilson of Heart... What do I win...

[tevake]

Yep I'll testify, The Dolphin fish market (just behind the restaurant) Has killer fish, the Seared AHI is great, and their poke also gets two thumbs up. Pluss the House specialty Ahi in the restaurant is memorable too.

We have been getting more albacore tuna lately and it is quite light colored.Not white but definitely very light colored, and very good tasting.

That Halibut story sucks, hard to believe you know what it tastes like after seeing that.

One of the best ever fish meals fore me is Halibut cheeks I had in Alaska. fresh out of the cannery. Yumm!

Cheers Richard

[Rick Lee]

I had sushi twice this week, always get it when the company is paying and I'm in CA. I eat it all the time, always get sashimi. I have never had the slightest stomach issues from it and I am probably weighted down with mercury, I eat so much of it.

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by 2porscheguy

Ian, I see your point with the sushi in restaurants thing but.....no reason why you can't have the liver!

No. Both sushi & liver trigger something primeval in me & my gag reflex kicks in on bite #3. I still take a ribbing from my compatriots for scraping foie gras off of a wonderful filet in a great restaurant in Paris. At sushi restaurants, I am the oddball getting the teriyaki steak.

Ian

[scottmandue]

I would chalk this up to the "all you can eat" cheapo sushi places that keep popping up...

People know I like sushi and are always recommending those places to me.

No thank you very much... I will stick with the old Japanese dude who goes down to the fish market every morning and picks out what he will be serving tonight. Yes, it is more expensive... but a steak house is more expensive than sizzler too.

[SteamWolf]

probably still have a better idea of what you're eating than any of the fast food chains.

[URY914]

What about McDonald's fish filet? Is it fish?

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by URY914

What about McDonald's fish filet? Is it fish?

"Fresh from the deep, cold waters of Alaska’s Bering Sea, this light filet of Alaskan Pollock is all yours. Pure temptation on a lightly steamed bun, topped with processed cheddar cheese and tangy tartar sauce".

Ian

[john70t]

Jeremy Piven (the actor) is one example of extreme mercury poisoning from sushi.

1). Mercury is from the dirty coal of China, and other countries and among the many factors affecting the oceans which most humans live near.

2). Then there is shark fin fishing which is decimating the species.
Sharks reduce the rays and other feeders of the reef ecosystem. Without top predators present, the balance which promoted ocean growth for hundred of millions of years is pushed out of whack.

3). Then there is drag line and net trawling, where a large percentage of the catch is thrown back and the floor of the ocean floor destroyed temporarily, if not permanently.

4). Then there is exponential population growth, emerging economic nations, with the cultural desire for a better quality of life and more goods- all of which use petroleum, heavy metals, and the plastics, which now form a floating trash island in the ocean larger than the state of Texas.

[john70t]

But hippy terrorist ecoliberals suck. (forgot to mention)