Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

I saw an investigative report that said here in Florida fish labeled Grouper on restaurant menus is grouper less than half the time. I once had a fish that was supposed to be grouper but did not taste like grouper but I was afraid to make a fuss. I will not go there again because even if it was grouper it was not good grouper. On the other hand if you buy it because you like the flavor and you cannot tell the difference you do not have much to complain about.

Expand full comment
Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

1) Although this particular study may be questionable, there are good reasons to believe fish is sytematically mislabeled. My mother-in-law worked at a fish counter for 15+ years and routinely catches restaurants making cheaper substitutions (and shocked when she calls them on it); in NYC a few years ago it was shown that the vast majority of "wild" salmon sold in specialty stores was in fact farmed; etc.

2) There's a difference between not being able to tell the difference because you can't tell the difference and not being able to tell the difference because you've never or rarely had the good stuff.

3) Environmental and health issues are one key to why fish labeling matters. Many disapprove of farmed seafood (usually the cheaper choice) on these grounds. (Imagine I was labeling factory-farmed, hormone-and-antibioticked-up meat as "free-range organic.")

Expand full comment
18 more comments...

No posts