Nutrition

SEATTLE — February 21, 2013 — Many Europeans are fretting these days over horse meat, and whether it might have adulterated their shepherd’s pie. Over here, it’s all about the red snapper.

That tempting seafood delight glistening on the ice at the market, or sizzling at the restaurant table in its aromatic jacket of garlic and ginger? It may not be at all what you think, or indeed even close, according to a big new study of fish bought and genetically tested in 12 parts of the country — in restaurants, markets and sushi bars — by a nonprofit ocean protection group, Oceana.

In the 120 samples labeled red snapper and bought for testing nationwide, for example, 28 different species of fish were found, including 17 that were not even in the snapper family, according to the study, which was released Thursday.

The study also contained surprises about where consumers were most likely to be misled — sushi bars topped the list in every city studied — while grocery stores were most likely to be selling fish honestly. Restaurants ranked in the middle.

Part of the problem, said the study’s chief author, Kimberly Warner, is that there are quite simply a lot of fish in the sea, and many of them look alike. Over all, the study found that about one-third of the 1,215 fish samples bought, from 2010 to 2012, were mislabeled.

“Even a relatively educated consumer couldn’t look at a whole fish and say, ‘I’m sure that’s a red snapper and not lane snapper,’ ” she said.

Geographically, the study had bad news for residents of Southern California, land of the midnight sushi. They were more likely than residents in any of the other sampled regions to be eating something other than what they had been told. About 52 percent of the samples bought and sent for testing turned out to be something else.

Salmon-crazed Seattle, by contrast, was tied with cod-country Boston as having the lowest deception rates. Still, almost one in five fish samples were wrongly labeled.

 

Read the full story in the New York Times 

 

 

 

 

February 21, 2013 — US consumers are frequently served a different type of fish than what they pay for, according to results released Thursday from one of the nation’s largest seafood fraud investigations.

Between 2010 and 2012, the nonprofit Oceana collected more than 1,200 seafood samples from 674 retail outlets in 21 states and conducted DNA testing that found one-third of the samples were mislabeled.

Fish advertised as grouper, cod, and snapper were often less desirable, cheaper, or more readily available species, according to Oceana, a Washington, D.C., group that focuses on fighting seafood fraud.

Grocery stores in the Boston region claiming to sell cod substituted another fish 31 percent of the time, the report said.

DNA testing found that 52 percent of the samples were misrepresented in Southern California, the highest mislabeling rate nationwide.

Of 120 samples from across the country that were advertised as red snapper, only seven turned out to be that fish.

“Everywhere we looked for seafood fraud, we found it,” said Beth Lowell, a campaign director for Oceana. “It’s not a regional issue. It’s a widespread problem across the US that needs national attention.”

The results are in line with The Boston Globe’s 2011 “Fishy Business” investigation. The newspaper found that nearly half of the fish tested at 134 Massachusetts restaurants and supermarkets was mislabeled.

In many cases, less desirable and cheaper species took the place of fresh, local varieties. A follow-up report published last fall revealed most of these restaurants were still substituting seafood.

“Fish fraud is a nationwide problem, cheating consumers and fishermen from Massachusetts to California,” said US Representative Edward Markey, a Malden Democrat.

“That’s why we need a national solution that increases  inspections, gives consumers simple labeling information, and punishes bad international actors. I will soon be introducing a bill that would do all of these things, bringing trust back to the table in seafood restaurants and stores across the country.”

 

Read the full story in the Boston Globe 

 

 

February 21, 2013 — If you order tuna at a D.C. restaurant, chances are half the time you’ll be getting another, less expensive fish in its place. But those odds are better than if you had wanted snapper. Testers nationwide found that 87 percent of the time, restaurants and grocery stores were selling something else under that label.

As much as one-third of seafood sold in restaurants and groceries is fraudulently labeled, according to a report the advocacy group Oceana released Thursday. The group sampled 674 retail outlets in the District and 20 states between 2010 and 2012, often finding cheaper, farmed fish being sold in place of wild-caught ones.

Ninety-five percent of the sushi restaurants, 52 percent of other restaurants and 27 percent of grocery stores surveyed sold mis­labeled seafood. While academics, consumer groups and media outlets in the United States and elsewhere have scrutinized fish labeling before and found major errors, Oceana’s effort is one of the largest seafood investigations to date.

In its study, Oceana did not mention the names of the food stores, restaurants and sushi houses it visited because the group cannot identify specifically where in the distribution chain the fraud occurred. If you ask those in the fish business, they likewise have different ideas on where the mislabeling begins.

Bob Kinkead, the veteran chef and restaurateur behind such seafood emporiums as the recently shuttered Kinkead’s, said the deception can occur anywhere along the distribution chain but notes that some suppliers prey on ignorant chefs. “I think chefs are uninformed” on species of fish, said Kinkead, who recently opened ­Ancora in the Watergate. “It’s not dishonesty. It’s carelessness.”

 

Read the full story at the Washington Post

 

 

WASHINGTON — February 21, 2013 — You walk into your favorite sushi joint and order a white tuna roll. What you could be getting: an escolar roll with a side of gastrointestinal distress (depending on your sensitivity and how much is consumed). Oceana, an international organization dedicated to ocean conservation, just released an extensive report on seafood fraud across America, including a particular focus on cities like Boston, New York, and Washington. The results are mixed, but for Washington sushi and sashimi lovers, there’s some reason for concern.

Seafood fraud can occur at a number of points between the boat and your plate—from fisherman or processing companies mislabeling seafood to buyers and restaurants listing one species on the menu and serving another. A common example in our area is crab. If someone can sell cheap Asian or South American meat as “Maryland crabcakes” at a premium and turn a profit­—or keep customers coming back for the same product when local crustaceans aren’t in season—then that’s seafood fraud. And it happens quite often. Besides economics, the biggest concerns are when a threatened species is identified as a sustainable one, or when a fish that carries a health advisory, like escolar, is substituted for another that’s generally considered safe to eat, such as white tuna.

 

Read the full story here 

Read Oceana's full report here

 

 

February 19, 2013 — The issue of sustainability in the seafood industry continues to make headlines — despite whatever progress we seem to be making. It can be incredibly nuanced, and mean different things to different people. As a chef in New England, promoting sustainable seafood means supporting local fishermen who are catching fish in a sensible manner. Thankfully, I am not alone; many chefs are doing their part to support sustainable seafood choices that enrich local communities.

New England seafood has also reached a critical tipping point. Just two weeks ago, the New England Fisheries Management Council announced sharp decreases in allowable fish catch limits for almost every species, especially cod. This assessment confirmed the critical situation for groundfish in New England, and the consequences will hit our fishing communities very hard. If we choose not to act, our centuries-old fishing industry will all but disintegrate.

In the face of this challenge, there is an urgent opportunity before all of us — whether you're a chef, fisherman or consumer — to embrace the full meaning of sustainable seafood.

We have the rare chance to put forward a vision for the kind of seafood market we want here in New England. As a chef, I want my industry to turn to underutilized fish species. These fish — species like redfish, sea robin and Atlantic pollock — have been dubbed "trash fish," and rejected by fishermen and chefs alike, who choose instead to keep only what consumers demand. Yet there is actually no such thing as "trash fish."

It's our responsibility to utilize all fish species, and not waste precious choices just because they are, for lack of a better word, unpopular. In fact many fish that we embrace today were widely considered trash fish in the not-too distant past. Skate and monkfish, for example, were once frowned upon by chefs and fishermen alike. Here in New England, skate was cast aside for decades and only splashed into the spotlight in the late 1980s when it became valued for its meaty, mild and nutty taste. Monkfish was passed over because it was viewed as too ugly to taste good. Yet today, the monkfish finds itself a regular on high-end menus, regarded for its versatility. Skate and monkfish ultimately made such strong entrances onto the culinary main stage that they were ironically overfished.

 

Read the full story at the Huffington Post

 

 

February 4, 2013 — You may have caught the news that McDonald's has a new item called Fish McBites. It's the second seafood offering from the fast-food giant. The first being, of course, the Filet-O-Fish. That classic with the fried fish, steamed bun, American cheese and tartar sauce was added nationally in 1965, a way to lure Catholics who didn't eat meat on Fridays. So it's no surprise Fish McBites are debuting near the start of Lent.

Filet-O-Fish has never outsold burgers at McDonald's, but the company is one of the largest buyers of fish in the United States, says Kerry Coughlin, a regional director with the Marine Stewardship Council. The council recently certified all McDonald's fish as sustainable. This morning, she says, several council staff brought in their wrappers from the sandwich and the cardboard boxes of the new Fish McBites, to show off the "wild-caught Alaskan pollock" language on the packaging.

Coughlin says the Alaskan fishery is sustainable because the managers make sure the boats don't catch too much, too fast.

"Ensuring that they will have a supply of fish to keep that business going," she says.

In addition to the green halo, fish gives McDonalds another reputation boost with moms, says marketing analyst Maria Bailey.

"Millenial moms like to have their children have a broader range of flavors and tastes in their diet," she says.

 

Read the full story at American Public Media

 

 

NEW YORK — February 4, 2013 — McDonald's says it is offering its first new Happy Meal entree in a decade: Fish McBites.

The world's biggest hamburger chain said the Fish McBites will be widely available at U.S. restaurants starting this week through March, to coincide with Lent. The Happy Meals will come with seven pieces of Fish McBites, French fries, apple slices and a drink.

The company had already announced last month that the Fish McBites would be sold on the standard menu in three sizes – snack (10 pieces), regular (15 pieces) and shareable (30 pieces).

Fish McBites, which are fried pieces of fish, will use the same Alaska Pollock used in the fast-food chain's Filet-O-Fish.

The launch marks the start of what McDonald's says is a bigger pipeline of new limited-time offers for the year ahead. By adding more variety to its menu, the company is hoping it can fend off intensifying competition and tempt customers to eat out more at a time when many are being more careful about their spending.

 

Read the full story in the Miami Herald 

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) — January 23, 2013 — McDonald’s used the Dollar Menu to help lift its profit in the latest quarter. Now the world’s biggest hamburger chain is turning to a pipeline of new menu items to boost slumping sales, starting with ‘‘Fish McBites.’’

The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company is betting that it will be able to beat back intensifying competition and economic pressures with the lineup, which executives said includes new burgers, chicken entrees and breakfast offerings that are performing well in test markets. The Fish McBites, which will come in three sizes and use the same Alaskan pollock used in the Filet-O-Fish, are set to be launched as a limited-time addition in February.

The stepped up offerings come after McDonald’s managed to eke out a higher profit for the October-to-December period with a series of short-term maneuvers, such as touting its Dollar Menu, pushing back the two-week availability of its popular McRib to the second half of December when sales comparisons from a year-ago were tougher, and urging franchisees to stay open on Christmas.

In November, the company ousted the president of its U.S. business after a key sales figure dropped for the first time in nearly a decade. Without providing details, CEO Don Thompson said Wednesday that the figure is expected to fall again in January.

‘‘By no means do we think 2013 is going to be an easy year,’’ Thompson said in a conference call with analysts. He noted that growth in the restaurant industry has been relatively flat-to-declining around the world, with that trend expected to continue.

 

Read the full story from the AP at the Boston Globe

 

 

January 22, 2012 — There continues to be no evidence that harmful levels of chemicals from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill are in seafood, but initial study results show that former spill cleanup workers are carrying biomarkers of many chemicals contained in the oil in their bodies, and women and children along Louisiana's coast are reporting health effects believed linked to oil.

Those were some of the public health findings discussed Tuesday during the second day of the three-day Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference, which is aimed at understanding the effects of pollution resulting from the spill and its effect on natural systems in the Gulf and along the shoreline, as well as on the people who live and work there.  

Several studies described Tuesday also indicate a significant percentage of coastal residents are reporting continued mental health problems related to the spill, ranging from anxiety and depression to post-traumatic stress syndrome.

The seafood safety issue has remained a bone of contention for some fishermen and coastal residents who have reported finding either deformed fish or evidence of hydrocarbons in shrimp or oysters.

 

Read the full story in the Times-Picayune

 

 

 

 

January 9, 2012 — Scientists from the Product Development, Processes and Technology Transfer Programme of the National Institute of Fishery Research and Development (Inidep) and of the Food Cryotechnology Research and Development Centre (Cidca) are in the last stage of the development of a fish burger rich in phytosterols and omega-3.

While hake, sea bass, sole and kingklip are high business value resources with extensive culinary possibilities, researchers from the Inidep and Cidca are engaged in the study of a species that until now was returned to the sea because it was not suitable for human consumption.

This is the Brazilian menhaden or saraca (Brevoortia aurea): a fat species, belonging to the Clupeidae family, rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, whose fillets have a large number of thin bones, making its consumption very difficult.

The Brazilian menhaden or saraca lacks of demand in the domestic market and its little marketing is limited to markets like Africa or China, and at a very low price, Inidep reported.

The omega-3 is a type of fatty acid humans do not produce and must be incorporated into the body by eating foods that contain it. Its health effects are very important, as its consumption reduces blood cholesterol and contributes to the reduction of cardiovascular disease.

 

Read the full story on FIS World News