Meddling Kids Expose Phony Sushi Labeling

DNA tests on sushi from four restaurants found that two of the eateries have been selling mislabeled sushi, such as cheap tilapia passed off as expensive white tuna, the Times reports. Six out of ten grocery stores tested have also been passing the phony fish – and they would have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for a couple of curious high school seniors, who spent about $300 collecting samples and sending them off to a lab for "DNA bar code" analysis. And ersatz sushi sellers better get used to this sort of thing; one kid’s father, a scientist, predicts that soon a handheld device could perform a quick analysis and connect to a DNA database remotely to check the species’ authenticity!

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By John Del Signore in Food on August 22, 2008 12:00 PM

Comments [rss]

thefacts

In Japanese, 'sushi' means 'dumb fuck'.

Who else but a dumb fuck pays to eats raw fish and hot wine.

Think2wice

Soon we shall know if that was really chicken.

From a long line of meddlesome kids from Nancy Drew to the Bloodhound Gang. Nice jobs kids! You saved Grandpa's fish store!

Re: Zodak

lol, The Tilapia is a "borrowed ladder".

jt10000

"It involved shopping and eating, in which they were already fluent."

Hahahaha

Peter

Yes, but are the tape worms in the sushi authentic?

babyhitler

i like the fact that people can't even tell what kind of raw rotting fish flesh they are eating. "Hey, I just paid 50 bucks for some white tuna and it tasted great! Oh, it's Tilapia? well, then it tasted like shit!"

JMH

Who were the restaurants? were they those Chinese-Italian-Japanese restaurants rolled into one?
I was curious too - the article doesn't say which places sold mislabeled samples (noting that "mislabeling could occur at any stage of the process") but does mention that Leonards’ Seafood and Prime Meats on 3rd Avenue was one of the places that was selling properly labeled merchandise.

Great work by these young ladies!

MFer

Eating organ types is cool. If only hot dogs had more tripe in it. Headcheese rules the world.

Spirit of 76

Zoinks!

takethecanoli

If you're really brave have a pathologist identify the organ types in the baloney or hot dog you're eating.

Hmmmmm....colon!

kapusta

jinkies!!!!

Nick S

hey #2, welcome to the future.

http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/kt100.html

EW.

nflowers

No love for the mangy mutt?

Praise science for discriminating foodstuffs our palates couldn't tell apart.

zodak

gattaca

jibbly

Think that's a reference to 1997's Gattaca.

Quenepa

lol oh this is very cool! thanks kids!! :-) Who were the restaurants? were they those Chinese-Italian-Japanese restaurants rolled into one?

BlackieJones

Obscure reference, zodak. Great one though!

famdoc

This sophisticated research was conducted by two young women who were high school seniors at the time. Bravo!

mattcarman

Because he's not the man we think he is at home. Oh no, no, no.

shaunnehill

why isn't ethan hawk happy?

zodak

"one kid’s father, a scientist, predicts that soon a handheld device could perform a quick analysis and connect to a DNA database remotely to check the species’ authenticity!"

ethan hawke is not happy.