Relying on Label for Identifying Fish

L’kavod Harav,

I don’t think the reality of the fish situation in the world applies to the above. I learned this when I interned in the OU a few summers ago. I agree that a major company like in a case of Tuna Fish cans that the companies wouldn’t risk ruining there business. However, The FDA admits that they don’t really inspect for the issues and study after study shows that people switch fish around and mislabel what they sell.

The below article tested fish and found tons of fish substition going on.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2011/december/food/fake-fish/overview/index.htm
Excerpted from above:
Still, federal law requires seafood to be labeled in a way that’s truthful, not misleading, and in accordance with federal regulations. It is “not acceptable” to misrepresent the identity of seafood products to consumers, says Doug Karas, a spokesman for the FDA, which oversees seafood labeling. If the FDA discovers fish fraud, it has the authority to slap companies with warning letters, seize seafood, and prevent businesses from importing fish. But FDA experts say it’s primarily the responsibility of state and local agencies, not the FDA, to regulate retail food stores and restaurants.

In New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, where we bought the tested fish, state officials told us that their inspectors aren’t trained to differentiate among fish species and that they focus their limited resources on food safety.

OU’s fish expert Rabbi Goldberg:
http://www.ou.org/general_article/ask_ou_kosher_may_2011_nothing_fishy_about_ou_fish_standards#.Udyxijs3vmQ
It is forbidden to purchase fish without skin, unless the skin was removed under kosher supervision. The reason for this requirement is that when one removes the skin of a fish, it is impossible to know what species it is. The name on the label is meaningless, because of an issue known in industry as “species substitution”. This is when an unscrupulous seller (or importer, or distributor, etc.) mislabels a cheap product with the name of more expensive specie for financial benefit. Recent news stories have highlighted this practice with regards to a fish called basa or tra. In order to avoid import duties, many have taken to labeling and selling this non-kosher catfish as “grouper.” If someone purchased skinless “grouper”, for example, it is quite possible that what they really bought was a non-kosher fish. In fact, grouper and basa look nothing alike, and one would imagine that the purchasers of this falsely labeled product would immediately realize the folly being perpetrated on them.

The FDA admits they don’t have enough people to control this problem. Senator Boxer wrote to them with the following facts:
Boxer Urges the Food and Drug Administration to Take Action to Stop Seafood Fraud
Recent Study Found that 55 Percent of the Seafood Tested in Los Angeles and Orange Counties Was Mislabeled
http://www.boxer.senate.gov/en/press/releases/101512.cfm
In the letter, Senator Boxer wrote, “Consumers should not have to question the safety of their seafood.”

Currently, 86 percent of seafood consumed in the United States originates overseas, but a 2009 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that only two percent of all seafood imports are inspected by FDA, and just 0.01 percent are specifically inspected for seafood mislabeling. Boxer asked the agency to respond with more information about its inspection process, including what steps it will take to improve enforcement to protect the safety of consumers.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/12/seafood-fraud-public-health-threat-or-economic-trick/#.Udy1EDs3vmQ
In 2009, the U.S. Government Accountability Office chastised FDA and other agencies responsible for seafood safety, saying there was more they could do to combat fraud.

“FDA examines only about 2 percent of imported seafood annually, and its primary seafood oversight program does not address economic fraud risks, which limits its ability to detect fraud,” GAO said in the document. “Because of the limited scope of FDA’s seafood oversight program, its mismanagement of the Seafood List, and its failure to update its guidance to reflect the allergen labeling requirement, consumers have less assurance that the seafood they purchase is correctly labeled.”

————————————————-
From all the above, People can not easily tell fish apart once the skin is removed in certain cases and even if they could people don’t realize the fraud. True the law of the land says fish substition is illegal, but in reality, nothing is really done about it by the FDA or government and studies show time and time that fraud is constantly occuring by Fish. This is why the OU does not allow people to really upon the logic stated above.