According to a recent study conducted by the nonprofit ocean conservation group Oceana, as much as one-third of seafood sold in restaurants and grocery store is mislabeled. From 2010 to 2012, Oceana evidently collected more than 1,200 seafood samples from 674 retail outlets in 21 states to determine if they were correctly labeled. After conducting DNA tests, researchers allegedly found that one-third (33 percent) of the 1,215 samples analyzed nationwide were mislabeled under U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines. Oceana reports that, of the most commonly collected fish types, samples sold as snapper and tuna had the highest mislabeling rates (87 and 59 percent, respectively), with the majority of the samples identified by DNA analysis as something other than what was found on the label. Halibut, grouper, cod, and Chilean seabass were mislabeled between 19 and 38 percent of the time, while lower levels of mislabeling were noted among salmon (7…
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U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take action to address seafood fraud. In her October 15, 2012, letter, Boxer defines seafood fraud as “the mislabeling of one species of fish for another fish that is often cheaper and more readily available.” Boxer cites studies purportedly showing that the practice may be “pervasive” throughout the United States and contends that it not only constitutes “deceptive marketing, but it can also pose serious health concerns, particularly for pregnant women seeking to limit exposure to heavy metals or individuals with serious allergies to certain types of fish.” Among the studies cited are those finding mislabeled 20 percent of 88 samples tested in Boston, 55 percent of 119 samples tested in California and 31 percent of 96 samples tested in Florida. The senator expresses her concern with the low number of inspections FDA conducts on both imported…
Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Center for Biological Diversity have filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief in a federal court in California against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to force the agency to act on their June 2011 petition seeking to reduce the allowable level of mercury in seafood. Turtle Island Restoration Network v. Hamburg, No. 12-03884 (N.D. Cal., filed July 25, 2012). The organizations claim that while FDA had 180 days, or until December 17, 2011, to respond to the petition, “[t]o date, FDA has neither granted nor denied the petition and has taken no action to reduce human exposure to mercury from commercial fish.” They request a court order declaring that FDA has violated the Administrative Procedure Act and requiring the agency to issue a decision on their petition within 30 days. The plaintiffs contend that FDA’s current action level for mercury in seafood…
A study published in Marine Policy has claimed that many fish stocks certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Friends of the Sea (FOS) are nevertheless overfished or subject to overfishing as defined by the international standards accepted by both certifying organizations. Rainer Froese and Alexander Proelss, “Evaluation and legal assessment of certified seafood,” Marine Policy, May 2012. The two researchers apparently examined data from 71 MSC-certified stocks and 76 FOS-certified stocks to determine how many fish were present in each stock and how many were being removed. They ultimately found that, of the fishing stocks with available status information, 19 percent of those certified by FOS and 31 percent certified by MSC were overfished or subject to ongoing overfishing. According to the study, a stock is deemed “overfished” if its biomass falls below “the level that can produce the maximum sustainable yield” or “subject to overfishing”…
A New Jersey resident from Scotland, who began working in 2000 for seafood company North Landing Ltd. at the invitation of its former owner, has filed a wrongful discharge suit against the company, its new owners and a supervisor claiming that her concerns over the company’s purportedly illegal practices, when brought to the attention of her supervisor, resulted in him verbally berating and slapping her, thus creating a hostile work environment that she could no longer tolerate. Chadwick v. North Landing Ltd., No. L1776-12 (N.J. Super. Ct., Passaic Cty., filed April 26, 2012). Among other matters, the plaintiff alleges that the company processed and sold farm-raised salmon treated for sea lice with Salmosan, a chemical that she claims the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved. She contends that when she brought this to her supervisor’s attention, he told her to “delete computer records showing the fish having been…
California resident Tricia Ogden has filed a putative class action in federal court against Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, alleging that it misbrands its seafood products by claiming they “are an excellent and affordable source of protein, nutrients and Omega 3 fatty acids” and “Rich in Natural Omega-3.” Ogden v. Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, No. 12-01828 (N.D. Cal., filed April 12, 2012). The only injury apparently alleged is economic, i.e., “Plaintiff would have foregone purchasing Defendant’s products and bought other products readily available at a lower price,” and “Plaintiff would not have purchased Defendant’s Misbranded Food Products had he [sic] known they were not capable of being legally held or sold.” According to the complaint, such representations and labeling establish that the company’s products are drugs under federal law “because they are intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease” and are sold without prior Food and…
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official has declared seafood from the Gulf of Mexico safe for human consumption after 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In December 2011, eight U.S. Senators urged the agency to “publicly and vigorously” defend the safety of Gulf seafood. In a January 11, 2012, FDA blog post, Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael Taylor said that more than 10,000 seafood specimens were tested for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) after the spill and that PAH levels were “100 to 1,000 times below the levels which would raise a health concern.” Taylor added that FDA feels “confident that the levels that were set are safe and protect the health of anyone who eats seafood, including children and pregnant women.”
A recent report funded by the Pew Environment Group has suggested that many seafood products bearing eco-labels are “not much better than conventional farmed seafood options when it comes to protecting the ocean environment.” Titled “How Green is Your Eco-label? A Comparison of the Environmental Benefits of Marine Aquaculture Standards,” the study evidently relied on the 2010 Global Aquaculture Performance Index “to determine numerical scores of environmental performance for 20 different eco-labels for farmed marine finfish, such as salmon, cod, turbot and grouper.” Researchers then ranked voluntary organic, retailer and industry standards in terms of both absolute and value-added performance based on 10 environmental impact measures, including antibiotic and parasiticide use, the ecological impact of escaped pen fish, and the sustainability of feed fish. Intended as “a kind of Michelin guide for standards,” the report did not assess individual farms but instead asked “how poorly a farm could perform and…
Eight U.S. Senators have urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “publicly and vigorously” defend the safety of Gulf seafood in the wake of last year’s oil spill. Led by Senator David Vitter (R-La.), the lawmakers signed a December 1, 2011, letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg asserting that although “rigorous testing” has revealed that Gulf seafood is safe for human consumption, many consumers believe otherwise because of “misinformation and unscientific claims.” Vitter wrote a similar letter to Hamburg in November. The effort was prompted by opposing claims made by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), whose scientists assert that FDA’s safety thresholds for Gulf seafood “significantly” underestimate cancer risks from seafood contaminants. NRDC published a study in Environmental Health Perspectives concluding that “FDA risk assessment methods should be updated to better reflect current risk assessment practices and to protect vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and children.”
U.S. Representatives Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) have reportedly asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate claims that seafood sold in grocery stores, restaurants and markets is often mislabeled. According to the congressmen’s October 31, 2011, letter, two separate investigative reports used DNA testing to conclude that purveyors frequently sold seafood as more expensive or different varieties. In particular, The Boston Globe reported that 48 percent of fish sampled in the area were sold under the wrong name, while Consumer Reports estimated that more than one-fifth of the 190 pieces of seafood it tested in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York were “mislabeled as a different species of fish, incompletely labeled, or misidentified by employees.” The latter report also noted that all 10 of the “lemon soles” and 12 of the 22 “red snappers” purchased were not the species advertised. “Only four of the 14 types of fish…
