I kind of give up in the winter, but now that it’s spring, I’ll revert to being a locavore and buying food from the local urban farm. Which means I’ll be able to sidestep practices like these:
The expensive “sheep’s milk” cheese in a Manhattan market was really made from cow’s milk. And a jar of “Sturgeon caviar” was, in fact, Mississippi paddlefish.
And last year, a Fairfax man was convicted of selling 10 million pounds of cheap, frozen catfish fillets from Vietnam as much more expensive grouper, red snapper and flounder. The fish was bought by national chain retailers, wholesalers and food service companies, and ended up on dinner plates across the country.
“Food fraud” has been documented in fruit juice, olive oil, spices, vinegar, wine, spirits and maple syrup, and appears to pose a significant problem in the seafood industry. Victims range from the shopper at the local supermarket to multimillion companies, including E&J Gallo and Heinz USA.
Such deception has been happening since Roman times, but it is getting new attention as more products are imported and a tight economy heightens competition. And the U.S. food industry says federal regulators are not doing enough to combat it.
Now, think about how bad it is when the industry is begging for MORE regulation! [Via Shoq Value.]
Aren’t we lucky that one of the areas where the previous administration cut costs was food inspection!
If you know your fish, you cannot confuse a catfish with a red snapper, grouper and of course a flounder.
I don’t know my fish. I’ve bought grouper that had no flavor at all. I can usually tell catfish, though.