LOS ANGELES — Tests on seafood sold at Los Angeles sushi bars, restaurants and grocery stores have revealed that more than half is not labeled correctly, a nonprofit organization reported Monday.
Red Snapper, Dover sole, white tuna and other fish were often different species, the group Oceana found in DNA tests of seafood from 74 retail outlets in L.A. In all, 55 percent of 119 fish samples from across Los Angeles were misidentified, Oceana said.
Oceana focused on the frequency of mislabeling rather than its origins. But Beth Lowell, director of the Stop Seafood Fraud campaign at Oceana’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, said the fraud can occur at any point in the supply chain, beginning when the fish is landed and through to processing, distribution and final point of sale.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibits so-called species substitution. Still, the practice remains prevalent.
People are also reading…
Consumer Reports found that 18 percent of seafood samples its researchers collected from retail stores and restaurants on the East Coast last year was mislabeled.
A 2011 investigation by The Boston Globe reported that 48 percent of the fish it collected from Boston restaurants, grocery stores and seafood markets was sold with the wrong species name.
