November 22, 2013 — The title of a recently published book about the notorious horsemeat scandal could be an apt reflection of what can happen in the seafood industry. “Not on the Label: What really goes into the Food on Your Plate” by Felicity Lawrence, tells the story of a batch of 10 metric tons (MT) of ‘Polish beef trimmings’ in a Northern Irish coldstore which was found to contain 80 percent horsemeat.
The bottom line, of course, as always, was price. Supermarkets and fast food chains were driving down the cost of the burgers they purchased until the price could not be met by using fresh beef mince of a reasonable standard.
Doesn’t that ring a bell with what was happening in the U.K. when breaded scampi was a popular dish in pubs and catering chains, and also sold in supermarkets and freezer centers? Frozen seafood buyers would contact breaded scampi manufacturers and ask them to quote for a contract and then award it to the supplier who offered the lowest price.
In order to reduce the price to a minimum, it was commonplace for tail pieces to be soaked overnight in a polyphosphate solution in a chill room to absorb as much liquid as possible, then moulded into whole tail shapes, frozen, excessively glazed and double breaded.
No one is suggesting that the frozen packs didn’t actually contain scampi, also known as langoustine, (Nephrops norvegicus), but given the predilection of the seafood industry to try to pass off one species as another that is more expensive — pangasius for cod in U.K. fish and chip outlets springs to mind — we cannot be sure.