http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/08/science/seafood-samples-mislabelling.html 2016-09-07 22:28:16 Catfished by a Catfish: 1 in 5 Seafood Samples Are Frauds, Report Finds “It is likely that the average consumer has eaten mislabeled fish,” said an author of the study, which analyzed 25,000 samples from around the world. === Seafood lovers, are you getting “catfished” at the dinner table? It’s very possible. One in five seafood samples tested worldwide turn out to be completely different from what the menu or packaging says, according to a “It is likely that the average consumer has eaten mislabeled fish for sure,” said The biggest impostor, fittingly, was farmed Asian catfish, a fish with white flesh that is easily disguised when it’s filleted and drenched in sauce. It was sold in place of 18 types of more expensive fish, including perch, cod and grouper. The report is a sort of meta-analysis of more than 200 studies from 55 countries. One of those studies found that in Using the various studies, the researchers created an “We kept thinking we’d find a success story, a place where seafood wouldn’t be mislabeled,” Ms. Lowell said. “Every single study that we reviewed except for one found seafood fraud.” Even that case had a caveat Ms. Lowell said, because it took place About 80 percent of the studies were conducted at grocery stores and restaurants. Because these locations are at the end of the supply chain, retailers tend to have higher instances of mislabeling. The report doesn’t name names. Ms. Lowell said the researchers were not sure whether the restaurants and food stores knowingly deceived their customers, or if they themselves were victims of a bait and switch when they purchased the fish. They found that 58 percent of the mislabeled samples were substituted for fish that could potentially pose health risks to certain consumers, especially pregnant women and children. In a New York grocery store they found In some cases the substituted fish turned out to be an endangered species, such as in Ms. Lowell said that one way to combat seafood fraud in the United States is by implementing stricter regulations for fish-tracking that extend throughout the supply chain. Gavin Gibbons, the spokesman for the “Oceana’s focus on the most often mislabeled species distorts their findings by design,” he said in an email. Ms. Lowell disagreed. With more than 25,000 samples tested from around the world, she said it is the most comprehensive review of seafood fraud to date. “This report reveals that it’s a global problem,” she said, “and it’s not going to go away on its own.”