Why I have boycotted Tuna - And why I recommend you do as well!
So, if you've ever eaten Tuna in Canada and then the US, you may have noticed it just isn't as good -- even if you buy the good stuff. Turns out it wasn't just in my head, or your head either. But even if you have never had that experience, here's a damn good reason to avoid tuna if you're in the USA. Quite simply, this is pathetic and angers me that such deceit has been going on for so long and was so accepted in the USA.
I'm sure we will hear more about this, and hopefully the mainstream media picks it up.
Here is the article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...l-effects.html
Fish mislabeling widespread in U.S. and 84% of 'white tuna' is a species which causes distressing gastrointestinal side effects
59 percent of fish sold as 'tuna' in restaurants and grocery stores is not actually tuna
Fish sold as 'white tuna' is usually escolar which causes prolonged, oily, anal leakage when eaten in quantities more than six ounces
The mislabeling of fish is widespread across the U.S., a shocking new study has revealed.
Ocean conservation group group Oceana analyzed the DNA of 1,215 seafood samples from 674 retail outlets in 21 states between 2010 and 2012.
Their research, which was released on Thursday, showed that 33 percent all samples were mislabeled, according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines.
One alarming discovery shows that a huge amount of fish sold as 'white tuna' is actually escolar, a fish that causes uncontrollable, oily, orange diarrhea.
The study found mislabeling in 27 of the 46 seafood types tested. It revealed that 59 percent of fish sold as tuna in U.S. restaurants and grocery stores is not actually tuna.
Only snapper, mislabeled 87 percent of the time and in reality any one of six different species, was sold fraudulently more often.
Disturbingly, 84 percent of fish samples described as 'white tuna' were actually escolar. Escolar is a type of snake mackerel that has rich, buttery flesh, but unpleasant side effects.
The diet of the escolar is rich in wax esters, a mixture of fatty acids and fatty alcohol, that just builds up in the body of the fish.
Unfortunately, when consumed by humans in bigger quantities than six ounces (and less in some cases), this fish can cause prolonged, oily, anal leakage.
According to thekitchn.com, escolar, also known as butterfish, oilfish or walu, is banned in Japan and Italy, and requires warning labels in Canada, Sweden and Denmark.
Dangerous game: 84 percent of fish sold as 'white tuna' is actually escolar (pictured) which causes deeply unpleasant side effects
Dangerous game: 84 percent of fish sold as 'white tuna' is actually escolar (pictured) which causes deeply unpleasant side effects
By retail outlets, seafood was mislabeled 18 percent of the time in grocery stores, 38 percent of the time in restaurants and 74 percent of the time in sushi venues.
In major cities like Chicago, Austin, New York and Washington DC, every single sushi restaurant that was tested sold mislabeled tuna.
Oceana warn that currently more than 90 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported but less than 1 percent is inspected by the government specifically for fraud.
The organization calls for a 'comprehensive and transparent traceability system that tracks fish from boat to plate' to be established at the national level.
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And it turns out that we have known since at least the 70's about these issues with escolar, and many developed countries have regulated it to various degrees. But it just disgusts me that in the USA there is a strong chance that the tuna you have in your cupboard is not tuna... and the industry knows it. It basically seems to be industry to sell this inferior escolar as tuna!
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Originally Posted by redz
I don't eat them though.
