According to USA Today, your last seafood meal was a rip-off. Consumer Reports, an independent testing company, reveals that an astonishing 22% of seafood is mislabeled at restaurants, grocery stores and even fish markets. Out of fourteen different kinds of fish, only four were consistently labeled correctly. The lab researched 190 different pieces of fish, all from different establishments. The FDA contends that mislabeling is illegal, and constitutes as fraud. The fish market is a huge business, raking in 80 billion dollars last year. Some worry that this is not just an issue of fraud, but a big health concern.
I’m sensing something fishy is going on here…ha..ha..
So, what are the main concerns here? First, consumers are getting robbed. For example, “not one of the 10 lemon soles tested was lemon sole — but more common and cheaper flounder”. Another words, you’re paying an extremely high price for an extremely inexpensive fish. Second concern is one of health; “Mislabeling can be a serious health issue. Some consumers have allergies to specific types of fish, and pregnant women can end up eating fish they shouldn't — with high concentrations of mercury”. There are some good news here, the FDA will start testing fish DNA to prevent misidentification by 2012.
Nothing about this surprises me, greed has always reigned over caring for the consumer in America. I’m glad the FDA is finally taking steps for our protection , it will make these companies accountable for their mistakes.
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