According to the FDA, bluenose is a real fish, but bluenose grouper doesn’t legally exist. “There's the invoice there,” Philip Tumberger, the Bristol’s manager said pointing to a stack of invoices. “It's sold as grouper, blue nose.” The restaurants supplier, Seattle Fish International, defended the restaurant’s menu description saying bluenose is a premium fish that wholesales at more expensive prices than real grouper. “We do not believe this is in any way product substitution since we are selling it under the common name of New Zealand bluenose grouper,” said Scott Godke with Seattle Fish. “New Zealand bluenose, Hyperoglyphe Antartica, is a high end fish that is commonly referred to as bluenose, bluenose grouper and bluenose sea bass.” The Bristol produced records showing Seattle Fish sold the restaurant the fish as “Grouper Blue Nose.” DNA tests indicated the “Blue Nose Grouper” purchased at the Bristol isn’t even in the grouper family. “The name 'bluenose' is used to market Hyperoglyphe Antarctica,” says FDA spokesperson Stephanie Kwisnek. “ It should not be used to market grouper, because it would be confusing to consumers.” “We put the exact name of the fish as it is sold to us at market,” Tumberger said. The Bristol says it would change the menu only if the supplier changed the way it invoices the restaurant. “That's just a marketing trick, isn't it, really,” Shivji said. “You can't call anything grouper, according to the FDA, that doesn't belong to the real grouper family.”
Still No Menu Changes
After our results, the Bristol’s supplier, Seattle Fish, issued a statement saying it would change the way it markets the fish. “To eliminate any future consumer confusion we have amended our purchasing name and will label it New Zealand Bluenose,” Godke said. A check of Seattlefish.com still showed “Blue Nose Grouper” marketed on the company’s Web site one month after Godke e-mailed NBC Action News saying they were relabeling in a way that would comply with FDA regulations. A check of the Bristol’s online menu at publication time indicated it too was still selling bluenose as “Bluenose Grouper.”
Substitution Without Notification
“The grouper,” the maitre d’ at Michael Smith’s upscale midtown eatery said presenting the pricey grouper dish we’d ordered. A second staff member is seen on the undercover video confirming we’d ordered the grouper that was on the menu The DNA test indicated we received bass. “It is bothering me, because I have my reputation in this town,” owner and executive chef Michael Smith said when we confronted him with the discrepancy. Smith produced a stack of receipts showing his restaurant routinely purchased real grouper, but acknowledges, on the night we tested, they ran out of grouper. “I don't substitute out fish unless there's reasons for it, which my staff should have notified the customer,” Smith said. But, none of the employees told us. Smith says he substituted with an equally expensive fresh sea bass, but government regulations require disclosure regardless of financial incentives, in part to prevent allergic reactions. According to a Government Accounting Office report, “the specific species of fish or shellfish must be listed to notify consumers with food allergies of a particular type of fish species.”
Several Species of Snapper
Even at the Ward Parkway restaurant named Red Snapper, our DNA results came back as not red snapper. Their vendor said he'd supplied the restaurant a type of snapper but it was not authentic red snapper. “We sell quality and freshness here,” said a woman who identified herself as the owner. The restaurant’s chef said he believed several different species of snapper could be called red snapper. “Of the 46 snappers, there is only one specific species of fish that can officially be called Red Snapper,” said Lisa Wedding with the Better Seafood Bureau. “Its “Scientific Name” is Lutjanus campechanus and its “Scientific Common Name” is actually Red Snapper.”
Do They Know They Violated FDA Regulations?
At Bice undercover video shows the waiter describing the grouper as “excellent.” But the upscale Power & Light restaurant actually served us a fish with the scientific name Pangasius. “Oh boy, that grouper actually turned out to be a catfish,” says Shivji. “That's quite remarkable.”
According to the FDA Sutchi Catfish, or Pangasius, can be legally marketed as Swai or Sutchi or Striped Pangasius or Tra. “The FDA’s guidance shows no Approved Market Name, Scientific Common Name or Vernacular Name in common between Pangasius and Grouper,” says Wedding. A statement provided by Bice suggests the restaurant made the substitution intentionally.
“Kansas City does not carry the grouper that we have selected in Florida so our substitute item is Stripped (sic) Pangasius,” Bice President Raffaele Rugger said. “We have chosen this product because it most closely replicates the quality, consistency and texture of the grouper used in Florida.” “We would consider changing the name on our menu to accurately reflect all species of fish being served,” Rugger said. The FDA says substituting a less expensive fish without warning the consumer constitutes fraud. Bice is considering changing its menu. None of the restaurants we sampled acknowledged intentionally violating FDA regulations. Most restaurants claimed they believed they were ordering, paying for, and serving fish that was promised on their menu, but didn’t understand the differences between species. The Bristol is the only restaurant that provided invoices to show a supplier had billed them for the fish exactly as it was listed on the menu.
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