Conservation group Oceana reported in February that 33 percent of all fish they sampled in retail outlets was mislabeled. To drive their point home, they recently hosted a dinner and proved that even a celebrated chef can easily be deceived.
Conservation group Oceana reported in February that 33 percent of all fish they sampled in retail outlets was mislabeled. To drive their point home, they recently hosted a dinner and at it proved that even a celebrated chef can easily be deceived.
According to the organization’s campaign director, “It's nearly impossible for anyone – even experts — to tell the difference between many species of fish."
At the event, she put her assertion to the test and challenged guests, including a few experts, to identify the difference between popular varieties and their nearly identical twins.
One of the more shocking undecided votes came from the evening’s chef, Xavier Deshayes.
Despite his confidence going into the game, he was unable to absolutely identify which of the two filleted specimens before him was wild salmon and which was the imposter.
Other commonly misrepresented fish include red snapper and grouper.
In addition to being dishonest, mislabeling can be dangerous. In 2007 many people were sold toxic pufferfish instead of the monkfish they were promised, leading to several cases of serious illness.
