59% of the 'Tuna' Americans Eat Is Not Tuna • Hacker News Board

Re: 59% of the 'Tuna' Americans Eat Is Not Tuna

#101

Post by bradleyjg » Sat, Aug 24, 2013, 3:23 AM UTC

jlgreco wrote: post #79

acslater00 wrote: post #67

This headline is preposterously misleading. This is a link to the actual study. Page 16 is relevant. http://oceana.org/sites/default/files/reports/National_Seafo... The group tested 114 tuna samples. Of those 114, 66 were of a fish that the vendor was calling "White Tuna". Have you ever eaten something called White Tuna? Neither have I. It's a fairly unpopular sushi fish sold sparsely around the country. Why does it…

So are you saying that the researchers went to Sushi shops and only tested sushi that was labeled as "white tuna" and deliberately avoided samples that were just labeled "tuna"? The study claims that 95% of tested sushi places were selling mislabeled seafood, but you claim that selling "white tuna" is not common. Can you give us a bit more to go on here? I really wish tacking CSV files of the raw data onto the end of…

I wouldn't say it's terribly uncommon, but by far the most common fish served in US sushi are: tuna (one of the red kinds), salmon, and yellowtail (+ imitation crab in rolls). Still popular, but less common, are mackerel (chub), eel, shrimp. Only after that comes things like 'white tuna', snapper, salmon and flying fish roe, sea urchin, Spanish and Japanese mackerel, real crab, and so on.

Re: 59% of the 'Tuna' Americans Eat Is Not Tuna

#102

Post by glabifrons » Sat, Aug 24, 2013, 4:12 AM UTC

acslater00 wrote: post #67

This headline is preposterously misleading. This is a link to the actual study. Page 16 is relevant. http://oceana.org/sites/default/files/reports/National_Seafo... The group tested 114 tuna samples. Of those 114, 66 were of a fish that the vendor was calling "White Tuna". Have you ever eaten something called White Tuna? Neither have I. It's a fairly unpopular sushi fish sold sparsely around the country. Why does it…

Several years ago, every sushi restaurant I frequented (in South Florida) stopped mislabeling Escolar as "White Tuna". I thought it was a legal crackdown since I'd already read about the fact that "there's no such thing as White Tuna".

Personally, I don't care what it's called, it's still my favorite (raw). The name Butterfish is new to me, but it makes sense as I always thought it tasted like Mozzarella! (my sister agrees) Thankfully, I've never suffered from eating it either, but then I never have meals with more than a few ounces of it (I typically have at least 3 different fish when I have sushi or sashimi).

Albacore, for comparison, is only white after it's cooked. Before that it's more translucent and slightly pinkish (Escolar is opaque white).

Oddly enough, I've never had cooked Escolar. I wonder how it is. :)

This whole thing reminds me of the Basa/Tra thing (real Basa is so much better than Tra, but they were selling the latter as the former to get a higher price for years).

Re: 59% of the 'Tuna' Americans Eat Is Not Tuna

#103

Post by chourobin » Sat, Aug 24, 2013, 4:54 PM UTC

rogerbinns wrote: post #76

chourobin wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, would it help to boycott eating certain fish on the endangered specifies list?

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has seafood watch. This includes iOS and Android apps to check while on the go. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx You can also download and print: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/downlo... "The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program creates science-based recommendations that help consumers and businesses make ocean-friendly seafood choices."

This is great! Exactly what I am looking for.