hookset
06-17-2011, 02:53 PM
From the Asbury park press -
From the Asbury Park Press (http://www.app.com/article/20110609/NJOPINION01/306090141/Fish-study-shows-need-oversight?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Opinion|s)
It’s almost too easy to come up with a headline when it comes to the rampant fraud and mislabeling rife in the American seafood business: “Caviar emptor.” “Bait and switch.” “Fishy business.”
But as reported by Kirk Moore in Tuesday’s Press, “Which fish is your fish?” a new study by the environmental group Oceana found consumers may be unknowingly buying substituted fish between 25 and 70 percent of the time. That’s criminal, both literally and figuratively. And until the federal Food and Drug Administration develops a tracking system so seafood can be traced back to previous handlers and ultimately the source — complete with audits, sampling and DNA analysis — New Jersey seafood lovers would do well to buy their fish from reputable local markets.
After testing more than 1,000 fillet samples from more than 50 locations around the U.S. in the last four years, one lab found an average of 50 percent of the fish were different from what was listed on the menu.
According to Oceana, fish are often replaced with cheaper species.And red snapper is something different like tilapia more than 70 percent of the time.
Margot Stiles, a marine biologist with Oceana, told Lee more than 80 percent of the fish Americans eat is brought in from overseas. Stiles added only two percent of that is inspected by the Food and Drug Administration.
Farm-raised salmon, for example, is often foisted on unsuspecting fish-eaters: Farm-raised Atlantic salmon is the beef of the sea, ubiquitous now throughout the seafood marketplace. But there have been cases of farmed salmon being passed off as wild salmon, which commands a much higher price. Even lowly tilapia has been passed off as a high-priced fish.
Seafood consumers deserve the same assurances the law and government oversight provide for other food sources.
From the Asbury Park Press (http://www.app.com/article/20110609/NJOPINION01/306090141/Fish-study-shows-need-oversight?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Opinion|s)
It’s almost too easy to come up with a headline when it comes to the rampant fraud and mislabeling rife in the American seafood business: “Caviar emptor.” “Bait and switch.” “Fishy business.”
But as reported by Kirk Moore in Tuesday’s Press, “Which fish is your fish?” a new study by the environmental group Oceana found consumers may be unknowingly buying substituted fish between 25 and 70 percent of the time. That’s criminal, both literally and figuratively. And until the federal Food and Drug Administration develops a tracking system so seafood can be traced back to previous handlers and ultimately the source — complete with audits, sampling and DNA analysis — New Jersey seafood lovers would do well to buy their fish from reputable local markets.
After testing more than 1,000 fillet samples from more than 50 locations around the U.S. in the last four years, one lab found an average of 50 percent of the fish were different from what was listed on the menu.
According to Oceana, fish are often replaced with cheaper species.And red snapper is something different like tilapia more than 70 percent of the time.
Margot Stiles, a marine biologist with Oceana, told Lee more than 80 percent of the fish Americans eat is brought in from overseas. Stiles added only two percent of that is inspected by the Food and Drug Administration.
Farm-raised salmon, for example, is often foisted on unsuspecting fish-eaters: Farm-raised Atlantic salmon is the beef of the sea, ubiquitous now throughout the seafood marketplace. But there have been cases of farmed salmon being passed off as wild salmon, which commands a much higher price. Even lowly tilapia has been passed off as a high-priced fish.
Seafood consumers deserve the same assurances the law and government oversight provide for other food sources.