Group finds some stores using cheap seafood substitutes
BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Could you be the victim of seafood fraud? An advocacy group says it tested seafood and found cheap substitutes at restaurants and grocery stores in Seattle.
Wild salmon is always on the menu at Pearl Restaurant in Bellevue. The chef prepares it with confidence it's ocean caught.
"We train our team so we know what we're looking for with salmon," said Bradley Dickinson. "Whether it's king or sockeye, we don't use any farm raised salmon here but if it came in the back door, we'd ship it back out."
Chances are, when you buy salmon at a restaurant or the grocery store, you're getting what you expect. Oceana, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, tested fish across the country and found in Seattle, just 2 percent of salmon was mislabeled.
But the shock came with the sushi order. More than half of the sushi tested here had mislabeled fish -- customers got cheap substitutions.
"84 percent of the white tuna was actually escolar, which is something that can cause acute and serious digestive effects if you eat more than just a couple of ounces," said Dr. Kim Warner with Oceana.
Another unseen trick: selling rockfish as snapper. Oceana says every one of the snapper samples tested in Seattle was mislabeled.
The group is calling for better federal oversight in tracking fish from the boat to the plate.
At Pearl Restaurant, Dickinson says confidence in his fish comes from a trusting relationship with vendors. He says if customers are concerned, they should ask questions.
"I don't think there's a guarantee every time," he said. "But the more you read, the more you know, the more you eat, the better off you're going to be."
And you might be best off here at home.
Oceana says Seattle served up the promised fish more than any other city in the study.
The agency won't reveal where it bought the fish that was studied, just that it came from seafood counters at large chains and small markets and a variety of restaurants.
Wild salmon is always on the menu at Pearl Restaurant in Bellevue. The chef prepares it with confidence it's ocean caught.
"We train our team so we know what we're looking for with salmon," said Bradley Dickinson. "Whether it's king or sockeye, we don't use any farm raised salmon here but if it came in the back door, we'd ship it back out."
Chances are, when you buy salmon at a restaurant or the grocery store, you're getting what you expect. Oceana, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, tested fish across the country and found in Seattle, just 2 percent of salmon was mislabeled.
But the shock came with the sushi order. More than half of the sushi tested here had mislabeled fish -- customers got cheap substitutions.
"84 percent of the white tuna was actually escolar, which is something that can cause acute and serious digestive effects if you eat more than just a couple of ounces," said Dr. Kim Warner with Oceana.
Another unseen trick: selling rockfish as snapper. Oceana says every one of the snapper samples tested in Seattle was mislabeled.
The group is calling for better federal oversight in tracking fish from the boat to the plate.
At Pearl Restaurant, Dickinson says confidence in his fish comes from a trusting relationship with vendors. He says if customers are concerned, they should ask questions.
"I don't think there's a guarantee every time," he said. "But the more you read, the more you know, the more you eat, the better off you're going to be."
And you might be best off here at home.
Oceana says Seattle served up the promised fish more than any other city in the study.
The agency won't reveal where it bought the fish that was studied, just that it came from seafood counters at large chains and small markets and a variety of restaurants.
Does someone want to tell this Oceana group that "super white tuna" IS always escolar. It isn't mislabeling, just a confusing market name...
Fish is nasty. I can't stand the smell or taste.
Holy Mackerel! I thought something smelt fishy. Will there be a herring?
"The agency won't reveal where it bought the fish that was studied"
- Thanks for wasting my time
is this a commercial for Pearl restaurant?
AAAAAAAAHHH! I am disillusioned! No really! No more raw fish for me- would it help if they ran it through the microwave first? >_<
sushi = bait
Nothing suprising here. Many types of fish are rebranded for marketing purposes before going on sale to the public. For instance, QFC is currently advertising "fresh steelhead" on KOMO radio which are in all likelyhood pen-raised Rainbow Trout.
years ago i ordered fresh trout at a restaurant in bellevue and what i got was fish sticks
@billibobThey were in high hopes that you would not know the difference between box food and fresh food.Â
@billibob But they were trout fish sticks ;-)
Somewhat amusing that we have the lowest percentage of fraud fish (this is a new phrase, and I may use it often) around here. Wondering if since so many of us are fish eaters, that we'd know.Â
" ...the promised fish..." heh.
(and at least it's just a fish switch and not horsemeat burgers! Tesco...)
The biggest scam of the year is when the Copper river craze hits every year. I have seen many restaurants saying they have Copper River but are selling something other. I also laugh at the people going to the fish markets and paying over the top prices for a fish (Copper River) that actually would be real but then going home and over-cooking (most people do this) their fish making it lose the qualities which makes it so sought after.  If you buy fish at the store and it smells take it back, if your fish dish from the restaurants smells send it back and order something else.
@lakeunion If it smells like fish, eat all you wish. If it smells like cologne, leave it alone.
@Harley-H.S.C. Completely untrue-although it rhymes well! Fresh fish will not smell. At the most a very light ocean scent. If you hold a fillet of salmon to your nose and it smells like fish, it's not fresh (although that doesn't necessarily mean that it is bad, most previously frozen/packaged fish will smell).
If the group doesn't share the names of the businesses then what good comes from all of this?
@Rockberry In many cases, a restaurant is sold the "fraud fish" and they may not have any idea, so it wouldn't be their fault unless they have it tested. The main problem is with the fish being purposely switched with cheaper species and sold at the higher price, whether to the store, restaurant, or 3rd party supplier.
Is this an old story? I seem to recall an atricle almost identical in wording, if I can trust my own memory, to this over a year ago?
I can't wait for the Genetically Engineered Salmon to arrive. Nothing better than "Wild Caught Frankin Fish".
In other news, those FDA approved drugs yer taking are more likely to kill you (or cause more deadly side effects) than the root of yer problem.
God bless government control!
@bobalouie Between excessive socialism and excessive capitalism people don't have a chance to even live a decent life any more. Hell you don't even own your own home any more. Can't wait for the revolution to start.
So, what is the "chicken" of the sea?...can we say just start saying it taste like tuna?
I'd like an order of horse sushi to go, please.
@farmerbear we are not England...we are WAY more civilized than that.
@aintno1special @farmerbear
âWAY more civilizedââ¦.. Iâm old enough to still remember when our local butcher was allowed to sell horse meat for human consumption.
@aintno1special@farmerbearÂ
 @aintno1special @farmerbear How does eating horse make one less civilized? It's not a fully domesticated animal like a cat or a dog, so it's really no different than a cow, pig or deer.
 Besides, were a nation that allows the eating of just about anything that isn't endangered. Can you really tell me that Brits eating horse meat offends you, and is somehow less civilized than Texans eating Lion burgers? Californians eating shark fin soup? Or New Yorkers eating Rabbit?@Hadrian@AidenagOne of the problems with horse meat is that almost all horses in this country have been treated with drugs that say, "Not for animals for human consumption." You want to eat food that is treated with dewormer, or Phenylbutazone aka bute? Not me.
@Aidenag I'd have to agree. The problem though was unknown substances, in that case horse, in food. It's embarassing that in such high-tech times in these advanced nations that we haven't a clue what we're eating or where it came from so much of the time.