Food fraud is a global issue, and we’ve probably all been fooled before. It predominantly affects prized foods like extra virgin olive oil and saffron, but you might also want to take care when buying products like fruit juice, honey, black pepper, and fish.
As Zoe reports, while the majority of fraud cases don’t carry major food safety risks, some substitutions may lead to food poisoning and have unintended consequences for people with allergies. You may also be misled into thinking you’re making a healthy or sustainable choice.
When you’re deciding which are the best (and worst) types of fish to eat, navigating the health risks and environmental impacts of fishing can be tricky. To make matters even more complicated, fish is a major offender when it comes to faking it.
Fish fraud is often a case of mislabeling, where retailers pass off cheap fish as valuable varieties, disguise imported seafood as regional favorites, or sell vulnerable species as a sustainable catch.
In 2018, researchers from the ocean conservation organization Oceana tested 449 samples of popular fish across the U.S. and found that 21% — 1 in every 5 — were mislabeled. On top of this, 1 in every 3 establishments they inspected sold at least one fake fish item.
Restaurants and small markets were particularly risky, as 26% and 24% of seafood samples were fraudulent, respectively. Larger chain grocery stores were more trustworthy. Fish fraud tricks consumers into overpaying and can lead to harmful health effects like food poisoning if the origin, potential contaminants, and handling process of the product are undocumented.
Given that fish and shellfish are among the most common food allergies in the U.S., switching one species for another could also pose life-threatening allergen risks. The fish on your plate might not be the healthy and sustainable source of protein you think it is.
According to Zoe, to avoid being cheated — catfished, if you will — you might want to inform yourself about the fish you’re buying and ask lots of questions at the seafood counter (what species is it; where, when, and how was it caught?).
- You can also look into the price you should expect to be paying: If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.
- Try to buy whole fish, which is harder to pawn off as something else, and eat in season. A common seafood swap is tilefish instead of red snapper, particularly when red snapper is out of season and therefore less abundant.
- A telltale sign that something fishy is going on, is if you see anything labeled as “white tuna.” This fish doesn’t exist. Often, it’s a cheap and oily fish known as escolar, which could upset your stomach.
Fake foods are difficult to root out, but you can avoid most of them by:
- reading the ingredients list
- choosing whole foods whenever possible
- buying local products
- eating in season
Although these steps require doing a bit of homework, it’s worth the trouble to know what’s on your plate.
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