Shocking Report Identifies Massive Seafood Fraud Across the US
March 23, 2013
Story at-a-glance
According to the nonprofit ocean protection group Oceana,
nearly 60 percent of fish labeled "tuna" in the US is not
actually tuna. A shocking 84 percent of “white tuna” sold in
sushi venues was actually escolar, a fish associated with
acute and serious digestive effects if you eat just a couple
of ounces
One-third of all fish samples tested across the US were
found to be mislabeled; substituted for cheaper, less
desirable and/or more readily available fish varieties
87 percent of fish sold as snapper was actually some other
type of fish
Grouper, halibut, and red snapper were sometimes substituted
with king mackerel and tile fish, two types of fish the FDA
advises pregnant women and other sensitive groups to avoid
due to high mercury content
As seafood fraud and widespread contamination grows, along
with mounting evidence of the critical importance of omega-3
fats found in fish, finding and using a viable alternative
becomes an increasingly pressing issue
My favorite animal-based omega-3 source is krill oil, which
also provides other important immune boosting benefits
courtesy of the astaxanthin it contains. Recent research
shows fish oil may help protect against skin cancer, and
astaxanthin alone is already known to act as an “internal
sunscreen”
Fish has always been the best source for the animal-based
omega-3 fats EPA and DHA, but as levels of pollution have
increased, this treasure of a food has become less and less
viable as a primary source of healthful fats.
For example, the rate of mercury contamination in
tuna and other Pacific fish increased 30 percent between
1990 and 2009. About 40 percent of all U.S. exposure to mercury
comes from eating contaminated tuna from the Pacific, and
roughly 75 percent of all human exposure to mercury in general
comes from eating fish.
Still, tuna remains a favorite staple among many Americans.
This may soon change, however, once people get wind of the
latest food fraud...
As evidence of seafood fraud and widespread contamination
grows, along with mounting evidence of the critical importance
of omega-3 fats found in fish, finding and using a viable
alternative becomes an increasingly pressing issue.
My favorite animal-based omega-3 source is krill oil, which
also provides other important immune boosting benefits courtesy
of the astaxanthin it contains. Recent research shows fish oil
may help protect against skin cancer, and astaxanthin alone is
already known to act as an “internal sunscreen.”
Sushi Lovers Beware: Majority of 'White Tuna' is Actually
Dangerous Fish Substitute
According to the nonprofit ocean protection group Oceana,
nearly 60 percent of the fish labeled "tuna" in the US is
not actually tuna... The startling revelation of absolutely
massive seafood fraud came to light in February, when
Oceana published its 69-page report,1
which focuses on fraudulent seafood substitution.
Between 2010 and 2012, Oceana conducted one of the largest
seafood fraud investigations in the world to date. More than
1,200 seafood samples were collected from 674 retail outlets in
21 states, which were then genetically tested to determine if
they were honestly labeled. As it turns out, the vast majority
of the fish were not at all what they were claimed to be...
Overall, a full one-third (33 percent) of the fish samples
were mislabeled; substituted for cheaper, less desirable and/or
more readily available fish varieties. The results showed that:
Mislabeling was found in 27 of the 46 fish types tested
(59 percent)
87 percent of fish sold as snapper was actually some
other type of fish
59 percent of tuna was some other type of fish
84 percent of “white tuna” sold in sushi venues was
actually escolar, a fish associated with acute and serious
digestive effects if you eat just a couple of ounces
Grouper, halibut, and red snapper were sometimes
substituted with king mackerel and tile fish, two types of
fish the FDA advises pregnant women and other sensitive
groups to avoid due to high mercury content
Seafood Fraud Found Everywhere Across the US
While seafood substitutions was found in every location where
samples were collected, some areas were more affected by
substitution fraud than others, and certain types of fish sold
in certain locations were substituted more often than others.
For example:
In Seattle, Washington, 18 percent of all fish samples
were mislabeled, but 100 percent of all snapper
samples were substitutions
In Northern California, seafood substitutions occurred
in 38 percent of all samples
Southern California had the highest mislabeling rate
nationwide, with 52 percent of all fish samples being
substituted with other types of fish
In Austin, Texas, 49 percent of all samples were
mislabeled and 48 percent of retail outlets visited sold
mislabeled seafood
100 percent of sushi samples from New York, NY, Austin,
TX, and Washington, DC, were mislabeled
According to Oceana,2
more than 90 percent of the seafood consumed in the US is
imported, yet only one percent of imports are inspected for
fraud, which may explain this clearly out-of-control situation:
“Our findings demonstrate that a comprehensive and
transparent traceability system – one that tracks fish from
boat to plate – must be established at the national level.
At the same time, increased inspection and testing of our
seafood, specifically for mislabeling, and stronger federal
and state enforcement of existing laws combatting fraud are
needed to reverse these disturbing trends. Our government
has a responsibility to provide more information about the
fish sold in the U.S., as seafood fraud harms not only
consumers’ wallets, but also every honest vendor and
fisherman cheated in the process – to say nothing of the
health of our oceans.”
How Can You Avoid Being Scammed When Buying Fish?
So what can you do? Oceana offers the following tips for
protecting yourself against rampant seafood fraud:3
Ask questions. Consumers should ask
more questions, including what kind of fish it is, if it is
wild or farm raised, and where, when and how it was caught.
Check the price. If the price is too
good to be true, it probably is, and you are likely
purchasing a completely different species than what is on
the label.
Purchase the whole fish. When possible,
purchase the whole fish, which makes it more difficult to
swap one species for another.
If You Choose Wisely, Benefits of a High-Fish Diet Can Still
Outweigh the Risks
Besides seafood fraud, where you might not be getting the
actual fish you paid for, there’s still the issue of
contamination. Truly, with all the problems associated with fish
these days, it’s hard to support fish as a healthful food, but
there are still exceptions. It does require some vigilance on
your part though.
In terms of contamination, the key is to understand which
types of fish are the least contaminated. By choosing wisely,
the benefits of a diet high in fish can still outweigh the risks
— provided you also do your best to ascertain that you’re
actually getting the fish you want, and not a substitution... In
the video below, I interview Randy Hartnell, founder-president
of Vital Choice Wild Seafood and Organics. I'm a huge fan of
their sockeye salmon, and beside a fish dinner at a restaurant
here or there, Vital Choice salmon is about the only type of
fish I eat, for two primary reasons:
Reduced risk of contamination: The risk
of sockeye accumulating high amounts of mercury and other
toxins is reduced because of its short life cycle, which is
only about three years. Additionally, bioaccumulation of
toxins is also reduced by the fact that it doesn't feed on
other, already contaminated, fish.
Superior nutritional content: Wild
salmon swim around in the wild, eating what nature
programmed them to eat. Therefore, their nutritional profile
is more complete, with micronutrients, fats, minerals,
vitamins, and antioxidants like astaxanthin (which gives
salmon its pink, or in the case of sockeye, red-colored,
flesh).
Farmed salmon, for comparison, are fed an artificial diet
consisting of grain products like corn and soy (most of
which is genetically modified), along with chicken and
feather meal, artificial coloring, and synthetic
astaxanthin, which is not approved for human consumption,
but is permitted to be used in fish feed.
Nature never intended fish to eat these things, and as a
consequence of this radically unnatural diet, the
nutritional content of their flesh is also altered, and not
for the better. Farmed salmon tastes different than
wild-caught, and much of it has to do with the altered fat
ratio, which is dramatically different. Farmed salmon
contains far more omega-6, courtesy of their grain-based
diet.
The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fat of wild salmon is far
superior to farmed salmon. Wild salmon typically has 600 to
1,000 percent more omega-3s compared to omega-6s. So whereas
farmed salmon has a 1 to 1 ratio of omega-3s and omega-6s —
again due to its "junk food" diet — the ratio for wild
sockeye salmon is between 6 and 9 to 1. This is important,
because if you're trying to improve your omega-3 to omega-6
balance, you simply will not accomplish it with farmed
salmon.
Beware: Mislabeled Salmon is Also Exceedingly Common
Unfortunately, salmon are also often mislabeled,
even though salmon was not specifically pinpointed as a
frequently mislabeled fish in Oceana’s fraud report. According
to Hartnell, other studies have discovered that as much as 70 to
80 percent of the fish marked "wild" were actually farmed. This
includes restaurants, where 90-95 percent of salmon is farmed,
yet may be mis-listed on the menu as "wild." The following tips
that can help you determine whether the salmon is authentically
harvested Alaskan fish are:
Canned salmon labeled "Alaskan Salmon" is a good bet, as
Alaskan salmon is not allowed to be farmed.
In restaurants, mislabeled salmon will typically be
described as "wild" but not "wild Alaskan." This is because
authentic "wild Alaskan" is easier to trace. The term "wild"
is more nebulous and therefore more often misused. In many
ways it is very similar to the highly abused "natural"
designation.
Whether you're in a grocery store or a restaurant, ask
the seafood clerk or waiter where the fish is from. If it's
wild, they will have paid more for it, so they're likely to
understand the value proposition. Since it's a selling
point, they will know where it came from. If they don't have
an answer for you, it's a red flag that it's farmed, or
worse... The US Food and Drug Administration is moving
forward with approving
genetically engineered salmon to be sold, and as you
know, GE foods still do not need to be labeled in the US.
Avoid Atlantic salmon, as all salmon labeled "Atlantic
Salmon" currently comes from fish farms.
Sockeye salmon cannot be farmed, so if you find sockeye
salmon, it's bound to be wild. You can tell sockeye salmon
from other salmon by its color. It's bright red as opposed
to pink. The reason again for this bright red color is its
superior astaxanthin content. Sockeye salmon has one of the
highest concentrations of astaxanthin of any food.
Omega-3 Fats May Help Prevent Skin Cancer, Study Reveals
In related news, results from the first human clinical trial
of its kind shows that consuming omega-3 fish oils can help you
prevent skin cancer. Indeed, there’s no shortage of evidence
that the omega-3’s you’d ideally get from a diet rich in seafood
is critical for your health, which is why it’s so important
to find a viable alternative in the face of declining fish
quality... According to the findings, published in The
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,4
regularly consuming fish oils increases immunity to sunlight. As
reported by Medical News Today:5
“[Fish oils] directly decreases sunlight-induced
immunity suppression - called immunosuppression - which
affects the body's power to combat skin cancer and
infection. The volunteers consumed a 4g dose of omega-3 -
approximately one and a half portions of oily fish each day.
Then they were exposed to either 8, 15, or 30 minutes of
summer midday sun in Manchester using a specific light
machine. A number of other participants took a placebo
before being exposed to the sunlight machine.
Immunosuppression was shown to be 50 percent lower in
the subjects that took the omega-3and were
exposed to 8 and 15 minutes of sunshine compared with the
volunteers who did not take the supplement. Little to no
impact on those in the 30 minute group was shown.”
Krill Oil — An Even Better Alternative than Fish Oil
I was one of the first to promote krill as an exceptional
source of animal based omega-3 dietary fats. Many have, and some
still criticize me for recommending
krill oil over fish oil, for the lack of studies to back it
up, but the bulk of the new emerging studies are actually
confirming that krill is the better option.
For example, research has confirmed that krill has the
identical fats as fish oil but is a far higher quality source
due to astaxanthin protecting the perishable fats, and the
phospholipids that massively increase the absorption of the
fats. Furthermore, fish oil, just like whole fish, is also prone
to contamination with
mercury and other heavy metals. Antarctic krill is not
subject to this contamination.
In light of the study above, krill oil makes even more sense,
as
astaxanthin alone has been shown to act as a very effective
“internal sunscreen.” So not only are you getting higher quality
omega-3 fats, you’re also getting more potent protection against
harmful sun rays, which can allow you to more safely optimize
your vitamin D levels by exposing large amounts of skin to
natural sun light. I believe it puts you in a perfect win-win
situation.
Seafood Fraud and Widespread Contamination Makes Omega-3
Supplement More Important
Fish has always been the best source for the animal-based
omega-3 fats EPA and DHA, but with increasing pollution levels,
fish has become less and less viable as a primary source of
healthful fats. Add to that the obnoxious prevalence of seafood
fraud, and the picture is bleak indeed. At the same time,
research continues to demonstrate the critical importance of
omega-3 fats for human health, making finding and using a viable
alternative an increasingly pressing issue.
While I don't advocate taking truckloads of supplements, this
is an exception. I do recommend most people consider taking a
high quality animal-based omega-3 oil, like krill oil.
Quality is of the essence when selecting any supplement and
krill oil is no exception. The only kind of krill oil I
recommend is from genuine Antarctic krill. Look for a brand that
is cold-processed, which preserves its biological benefits.
Please make sure that hexane is not used to extract the oil from
the krill as some of the most popular krill oils on the market
use this dangerous technique. It should also be free of heavy
metals, PCBs, dioxins and other contaminants. The krill should
also be harvested in compliance with international conservation
standards.