# Lifestyles & Discussion > Personal Health & Well-Being >  New Study Shows 59% of Tuna Sold in the U.S. Isnt Tuna

## Lucille

The FDA and USDA must be too busy persecuting small organic farmers to deal with this.

New Study Shows 59% of “Tuna” Sold in the U.S. Isn’t Tuna
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-0...E2%80%99t-tuna




> This is just the latest revelation in the stealth inflation and food fraud theme I have written about frequently in recent months.  The non-profit group Oceana took samples of 1,215 fish sold in the U.S. and genetic tests found that that 59% of those labeled tuna were mislabeled.
> 
> 
> 
> It seems that “white tuna” should be avoided in particular as “84% of fish samples labeled “white tuna” were actually escolar, a fish that can cause prolonged, uncontrollable, oily anal leakage.”


More at the link

Related:  http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=49765

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## trey4sports

damnit.

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## thoughtomator

It was as if a million cats all cried out at once and ran to the litterbox.

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## Lucille



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## angelatc

Calling for bigger government:




> Our findings demonstrate that a comprehensive and transparent traceability system – one that tracks fish from boat to plate – must be established at the national level.


They're right - we need the government, I guess.

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## angelatc

From the local seafood expert: Escolar is a very tasty fish, but it is known locally as "oily fish" because it will indeed act as an all-natural laxative if you eat more than a little bit.

More troubling is that it is not the same color as tuna, so it would need to be physically recolored to be passed off as tuna.

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## Bruno

"The laxative of the sea". Heard recently much of the sushi passed off as tuna is also escolar.

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## libertyjam

Escolar, can also be known as Butterfish-




> Sometimes journalists really do pull stories out of their asses: Philadelphia writer A.J. Daulerio and former Gawker scribe Alex Balk are sounding the alarm on a succulent fish that causes some extremely undesirable and embarrassing side effects, namely hours of orange, uncontrollable anal leakage. It’s called escolar but it’s often sold under various assumed names like “butterfish”, “Hawaiian walu” or, when served raw, as “super white tuna” or “king tuna.” Whatever the name, the effects are often the same, as Daulerio himself divulged when he pitched the story via IM to Balk, now the executive editor for Radar online:


http://gothamist.com/2008/02/13/beware_the_butt.php

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## angelatc

> Escolar, can also be known as Butterfish-
> 
> 
> 
> http://gothamist.com/2008/02/13/beware_the_butt.php


Interesting - that would go back to the same issue with the snapper - that what the FDA calls snapper isn't necessarily what the rest of the world calls snapper.

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## libertyjam

http://blog.medellitin.com/2008/12/e...rous-fish.html

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## Aeroneous

Damnit.. is there anything left in life that I can take at face value?

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## sailingaway

> Interesting - that would go back to the same issue with the snapper - that what the FDA calls snapper isn't necessarily what the rest of the world calls snapper.


I would like to know it is what I call tuna, personally.  

Well, that's a pain. White tuna is more expensive and I always get it because 'light tuna' sometimes tastes funny or has a different consistency. (When I get tuna, not that often.) I thought I was doing the right thing.

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## Keith and stuff

> I would like to know it is what I call tuna, personally.  
> 
> Well, that's a pain. White tuna is more expensive and I always get it because 'light tuna' sometimes tastes funny or has a different consistency. (When I get tuna, not that often.) I thought I was doing the right thing.


White tuna is known as the unhealthy/less healthy part of the tuna. It has less healthy fat and more heavy metals. People don't buy white tuna for health, only for taste.

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## sailingaway

> White tuna is known as the unhealthy/less healthy part of the tuna. It has less healthy fat and more heavy metals. People don't buy white tuna for health, only for taste.


Hm. I guess we know what I'm going for! 

Didn't know that, though.

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## MRK

Isn't this fraud? How is this not fraud? Someone please explain this to me. Maybe there's no legal definition for tuna... so they can add whatever they want?

Ok, so whoever wants to change or create their business to one that ships 100% pure tuna (DNA tested) is going to capitalize on this if this if it turns into a big scandal. Given the information the average American has from the boob tube, I would suspect it's not going to happen overnight.

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## MelissaWV

Tuna steaks tend to look like tuna steaks.

If you are buying salad, pouches, or cans, I think that worrying what kind of fish has been mangled and processed to create the end product is the least of your problems.

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## libertyjam

> White tuna is known as the unhealthy/less healthy part of the tuna. It has less healthy fat and more heavy metals. People don't buy white tuna for health, only for taste.


Somebody needs to tell my Dad's cardiologist that.

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## sailingaway

> Tuna steaks tend to look like tuna steaks.
> 
> If you are buying salad, pouches, or cans, I think that worrying what kind of fish has been mangled and processed to create the end product is the least of your problems.


It is the convenient way to get and store it. I'm more concerned about sushi being mislabled which apparently happens often, because that is raw as well, but since Fukiwhosis I've eaten less of that anyhow because I've always wondered where most of our fish came from given the strict coastal laws in CA.  

So at them moment I'm thinking of cans.  I don't use much, but I want it to be what I am buying.

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## MRK

I would imagine the problem here is that the distributors don't do any kind of tests to determine what their suppliers, processing facilities or the fishermen, are giving them. It's just an assumption of legitimacy or a wink and nod all the way down the supply chain.

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## MelissaWV

> It is the convenient way to get and store it. I'm more concerned about sushi being mislabled which apparently happens often, because that is raw as well, but since Fukiwhosis I've eaten less of that anyhow because I've always wondered where most of our fish came from given the strict coastal laws in CA.  
> 
> So at them moment I'm thinking of cans.  I don't use much, but I want it to be what I am buying.

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## sailingaway

> 


The bottom is what I buy for sushi, pretty much (but not lately, a bit spooked by the radioactive fish.)  but I was hoping cans were safer.  Ron is right I guess, it DOES give a false feeling of safety.

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## Carson

> http://blog.medellitin.com/2008/12/e...rous-fish.html


From your link;

_"Why would you eat a fish that has such terrible downsides? Two reasons:

  1.  Escolar is delicious. Most likely, the same fatty ester in Escolar that makes you sick also makes it taste so damned good.

  2. Taste the danger! If you enjoy a sense of dining adventure, then consider Escolar the log flume of the culinary world."_


It's like bacon but out of the ocean!


P.S. Or how about calling it Bacon Fish!

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## Carson

> Isn't this fraud? How is this not fraud? Someone please explain this to me. Maybe there's no legal definition for tuna... so they can add whatever they want?
> 
> Ok, so whoever wants to change or create their business to one that ships 100% pure tuna (DNA tested) is going to capitalize on this if this if it turns into a big scandal. Given the information the average American has from the boob tube, I would suspect it's not going to happen overnight.


Good point about a business using this mislabeled tuna thing to their advantage with a guarantee. At least if the worry gets to the point that it warrants it enough to make it profitable.

First I think, like you pointed out, they would have to define tuna. When I was about five or so I had a neighbor that was always going deep sea fishing. When he would come home he would lay his fish out on the grass. He had several he told me about that were considered tuna. There was Yellowfin and Bluefin that were right in there being solid in what he figured were tuna. I'm think the blue was his favorite. There may have been a couple others that fit in with them. Out on the edge and I think over the line was Bonita. It looked like it was of the tuna family but was smaller and he said the meat was darker and didn't taste as well. He would have that little front yard of his carpeted while he was getting them stored away or handed out.

Once he brought home a Sunfish. I think he said it wasn't good to eat but he wanted me to see it. It was a monster of a fish. Not just in size but in style. I think he said they just sail along sort of up in the shallow part of the sea.

Then there was the lobster and abalone guy and the deliveries to Maynard's, but that was another story. 


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuna

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## amy31416

> Tuna steaks tend to look like tuna steaks.
> 
> If you are buying salad, pouches, or cans, I think that worrying what kind of fish has been mangled and processed to create the end product is the least of your problems.


Wow. Ms. Snootypants is on overdrive.

Canned tuna is one of the few inexpensive and (allegedly) healthy proteins that poor people can afford. Many of us grew up eating tuna salad sandwiches, tuna noodle casserole, etc. I guess our moms were giant piles of garbage for feeding us such swill?

And when a tuna steak is cooked, it turns greyish-white, like a lot of other fish. In case you didn't know.

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## angelatc

> Tuna steaks tend to look like tuna steaks.
> 
> If you are buying salad, pouches, or cans, I think that worrying what kind of fish has been mangled and processed to create the end product is the least of your problems.



That isn't what they were testing though.  They were testing fresh/frozen fish in restaurants, grocery stores, and sushi bars.

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## Aeroneous

> Wow. Ms. Snootypants is on overdrive.


I don't think she's being snooty.  I think Mel is just a good home chef, and like any chef she has a passion for quality ingredients.

I think I blew her mind on Thanksgiving when I told her that we used a gravy mix instead of making it from scratch.  You'd think I just drop-kicked a puppy or something.

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## angelatc

> I would like to know it is what I call tuna, personally.  
> 
> Well, that's a pain. White tuna is more expensive and I always get it because 'light tuna' sometimes tastes funny or has a different consistency. (When I get tuna, not that often.) I thought I was doing the right thing.


Be careful what you're learning on the internet.  Everybody knows everything here.

Assuming you're talking about canned white tuna?  That's labeled albacore on the can, and should contain only albacore in the can.    My husband, whom I will call Mr Snootypants, is not only a seafood expert, but also a big canned tuna eater too, and he says that he can sometimes taste differences in the meat....and that it would not surprise him to find that there was some bastardization going on with the white canned tuna, too.

Light tuna is indeed a mishmash of other fish in the tuna family -  bonita, skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye.

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## angelatc

> Good point about a business using this mislabeled tuna thing to their advantage with a guarantee. At least if the worry gets to the point that it warrants it enough to make it profitable.
> 
> First I think, like you pointed out, they would have to define tuna.


That's the thing.  The FDA does define tuna, but a lot of restaurants and sushi bars make up names to put on their menu.  "White tuna" sounds better than "escolar" which, at best, nobody has ever heard of. 

Mahi Mahi is a name that the industry came up with for dolphin fish, because nobody wanted to eat a dolphin!!! (Note: dolphins aren't fish, and the dolphin fish is a different creature, but as seen on a menu...Mom and Pop tourist wanted no part of eating Flipper.)

I still think that as long as you're happy with the taste, and you're not getting sick from eating it, we don't need a huge government program tracking our fish from the ship to our plate.

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## MelissaWV

> Wow. Ms. Snootypants is on overdrive.
> 
> Canned tuna is one of the few inexpensive and (allegedly) healthy proteins that poor people can afford. Many of us grew up eating tuna salad sandwiches, tuna noodle casserole, etc. I guess our moms were giant piles of garbage for feeding us such swill?
> 
> And when a tuna steak is cooked, it turns greyish-white, like a lot of other fish. In case you didn't know.


If it has turned "greyish white" then you have ruined a good tuna steak.

If you want to think of that as snooty, go ahead?  "Light tuna" has always tended to have some mystery fish in it.  You're reading things the wrong way.  I just find it ridiculous to expect purity and high quality from canned fish that costs next to nothing.  It isn't shards of glass or anything.  It's other kinds of fish with similar composition once they are mished and squished and hacked to bits.

If you absolutely must know precisely what you are eating, then buy ingredients, and you can keep an eye on what they look like.




> I don't think she's being snooty.  I think Mel is just a good home chef, and like any chef she has a passion for quality ingredients.
> 
> I think I blew her mind on Thanksgiving when I told her that we used a gravy mix instead of making it from scratch.  You'd think I just drop-kicked a puppy or something.


I genuinely didn't know gravy mixes existed, and it just seems odd since the ingredients are really cheap to start with.




> That isn't what they were testing though.  They were testing fresh/frozen fish in restaurants, grocery stores, and sushi bars.


That is what sailingaway was talking about, though.  Others were also discussing swapping butterfish in for tuna.  





> I still think that as long as you're happy with the taste, and you're not getting sick from eating it, we don't need a huge government program tracking our fish from the ship to our plate.


Amen.

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## S.Shorland

Do you have 'Shepherd's Pie' over there?

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## Anti Federalist

LOL @ Butterfish.

Used to catch 'em by the ton.

I used to wonder what the hell they were being used for, I was thinking cat food, myself.

Now I know.

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## Anti Federalist

> we don't need a huge government program tracking our fish from the ship to our plate.


Already in place for all intents and purposes.

I'd wager this was all foreign processed/canned.

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## KingNothing

> Tuna steaks tend to look like tuna steaks.
> 
> If you are buying salad, pouches, or cans, I think that worrying what kind of fish has been mangled and processed to create the end product is the least of your problems.



I agree with this, but I also think it is terrible that businesses misrepresent what they are peddling to consumers.

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## amy31416

> If it has turned "greyish white" then you have ruined a good tuna steak.
> 
> If you want to think of that as snooty, go ahead?  "Light tuna" has always tended to have some mystery fish in it.  You're reading things the wrong way.  I just find it ridiculous to expect purity and high quality from canned fish that costs next to nothing.  It isn't shards of glass or anything.  It's other kinds of fish with similar composition once they are mished and squished and hacked to bits.


Proved my point. You have no clue. Have you never cooked fresh tuna? It is greyish-white where it's cooked, and the rare inside is the pretty pink color. Unless you're only eating sushi, you will encounter tuna that doesn't look like the picture you posted. Please prove me wrong--show me that cooked tuna is that vibrant pink color. Do it.

Yeah, I think you're snooty, but in a very ignorant way. Of course there's a mix of fish in canned/processed fish meat--but does that mean that a person is a jerkoff for consuming it or being in a situation where they have to feed their family with it? In my opinion, no. In yours, it seems, yes.

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## MelissaWV

> Proved my point. You have no clue. Have you never cooked fresh tuna? It is greyish-white where it's cooked, and the rare inside is the pretty pink color. Unless you're only eating sushi, you will encounter tuna that doesn't look like the picture you posted. Please prove me wrong--show me that cooked tuna is that vibrant pink color. Do it.
> 
> Yeah, I think you're snooty, but in a very ignorant way. Of course there's a mix of fish in canned/processed fish meat--but does that mean that a person is a jerkoff for consuming it or being in a situation where they have to feed their family with it? In my opinion, no. In yours, it seems, yes.


Assumes facts not in evidence.  Yes, I have.  No, it's not grey.  Please oh please post where I called anyone a jerkoff for eating canned tuna, or being poor.

Whatever is up your butt tonight, I didn't put it there, so chill.

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## amy31416

> Assumes facts not in evidence.  Yes, I have.  No, it's not grey.  Please oh please post where I called anyone a jerkoff for eating canned tuna, or being poor.
> 
> Whatever is up your butt tonight, I didn't put it there, so chill.


It's greyish-white on the cooked portion. I've cooked it many, many times. The pretty pink color only stays on the rare parts--do I have to repeat this to someone who is allegedly a home chef? I don't make that claim and I know that.

And the "jerkoff" is implied that people who might use canned/processed tuna have bigger issues. Quit being a jerk towards people who have to live on a budget and might consider buying something that you consider inferior. Snootypants.

For the record, there is nothing up my butt, however, you should stop trying to make people feel bad for buying something like canned tuna--especially if they don't have better options. That's a jerk move--and I don't expect that you would recognize that.

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## RonPaulMall

For you canned Tuna eaters, a good, healthier alternative is Sardines.  They are canned whole with just the heads cut off, so you know what you are getting, and as they are way down on the food chain there isn't any mercury issue.  They are also way richer in Omega 3's and since you eat the bones and skin they are a great source of usable calcium and other great stuff.  Do know that "sardine" is not one particular kind of fish but more a general class.  The "sardine" of the North Sea is a smaller, different fish than the one caught off the coast of Iberia and they have a _slightly_ different taste.  Most Americans prefer the Norwegian sardines.  Most sardine aficionados prefer those caught in Portuguese territorial waters.

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