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Did You Know?

Did You Know?FDA States that "White Roughy" not Acceptable Market Name for Basa. NFI received a letter from FDA this past week clarifying the agency's policy for the use of the term "white roughy" for basa fish.

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Did You Know?

basa fish and roughy

White Roughy is not an acceptable Market Name for Basa

In a letter to NFI, FDA clarified the agency’s policy for the use of the term “white roughy” for basa. FDA believes that marketing basa or any other fish in the Pangasiidae family as “white roughy” is misleading to the consumer. Fish known as “roughies” such as “orange roughy” are classified differently from Basa and command a higher value in the marketplace. Misleading fish names violate the U.S. Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Better Seafood Board Blog (Archive)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - 18:40

Lost in all the press generated by the Boston Globe 2-part series on species substitution at Boston-area restaurants and Oceania’s report on substitution at Boston-area grocery stores is a story from another large seafood-centric city – Seattle.  The local NPR affiliate (KPLU 88.5) reports on the efforts of Washington state’s Fish and Wildlife police to look for mislabeled species at area food markets.  

Budget cuts and other assigned duties certainly don’t allow this to be a full-time duty of the WDFW, but seeking out fraud goes a long way to stopping the cheaters.  As Officer Olson states, “Quite honestly all this stuff, it's always about the money.  It's always about the bottom line.”

If you want a “do-it-yourself” guide to finding cheaters, check out this fascinating link.  Professor Erica Cline with the University of Washington-Tacoma has a “Catching Cheaters Salmon Market Substitution Project”, complete with instructor and student’s lab manuals.  Now that's a useful science project.

Welcome to the BSB Blog

You may be asking – Why a blog? Or – How does a blog fight seafood fraud? Well we certainly don’t expect this blog to single-handedly eliminate seafood fraud, but it does provide a collection point for commentary on fraud – in other words, a showcase for the good, the bad and the ugly. It is our way to pass along items of interest that help to educate and persuade the powers that be (whether they be our partners in the seafood supply chain or government agencies) that seafood fraud is very real and needs to be stopped. So check back often to see what we have to say in our fight against seafood fraud.

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