DNA Test Finds Plenty of Sushi Misidentified and Endangered

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Escolar, a fish famous for causing diarrhea and anal leakage, has been found masquerading as tuna at sushi restaurants, according to a DNA research study recently published by a group of scientists. The escolar was found five times during the brief research project, which included visits to 31 sushi restaurants in NYC and beyond. The study also found that some restaurants are also selling endangered southern bluefin tuna.

The study is part of an effort to build a database of every fish species on earth, which might one day enable anyone with a handheld DNA reader to identify their fish. According to the report (which doesn't name the restaurants), "nineteen of 31 restaurants erroneously described or failed to identify the sushi they sold. Twenty-two of 68 samples were sold as species that were contradicted by molecular identification... The five samples of escolar sold as a variant of 'white tuna' are considered a misrepresentation because this species is a snake mackerel, belonging to the distantly related family Gempylidae."

Last August, a group of high school seniors spent about $300 collecting sushi samples from NYC restaurants and groceries, then sent them off to a lab for DNA bar code analysis. Two out of the four restaurants were found to be serving cheap tilapia passed off as expensive white tuna, and six out of ten grocery stores had fake fish. According to Wired, before these hand-held DNA devices can become the perfect stocking-stuffer, zoologists need to first agree on a system to condense the genetic information from each fish into a concise "signature."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in Food on November 24, 2009 3:18 PM

Comments [rss]

Sheila

I'm from Texas. Just give me a thick, juicy steak cooked medium rare anyday.

texinyc

I liked this story better when I read it on Wired.

Both are inaccurate. Escolar is actually a good fish to eat, as long as it's cooked right and the portion isn't huge (whuddup Ahmurkuh).

I'm not one to complain about the content of this blog since I'm usually happy to read most of your content, but at least the Wired article was originally inaccurate.

Why not an NYC spin on it? There are surprisingly few regulations on what restaurants can label the food they're serving as. This happens most often with fish. Peruvian tooth fish anyone?

Clarice City

I just knew I was tasting snake mackerel.

poopmast

Actually escolar is sold as white tuna in many Korean and Chinese owned places.

Most Japanese owned sushi restaurants do not serve it, in fact it is banned in Japan.

jahuey

not true.

Japan, which eats an estimated three-quarters of the world's annual bluefin catch, announced Thursday that it would not comply with such a ban. (Washington Post, 3/5/10)

chrylIvy

I'm not really surprised at all. May sushi restaurant owners doing this for decades all over the world. Let's just be safe.

NannyState

You mean some of my "Sea Kitten" was actually raccoon?

kazubes

Not really surprising, you have all of these fake Japanese restaurants run by Koreans and Chinese people that serve the scraps from the fish market and tada! you have escolar being sold off as prime tuna. Happily most New Yorkers don't know the difference between the people nor the fish they eat so it all works out.

nivek

We also get humored by novelty rolls like dragon/spider rolls...wtf. I'll eat my sushi in Japan, thanks.

mzungu

man, i love sushi. but this is horrifying

Clarice City

Jeremy Piven agrees.

Gothamist_Cynic

Americans are too dumb to notice the difference anyway.

jpeditor

That explains the 2008 election.

hotstepper

i don't get it.

verbal

You just proved it again.

nik13

LOL.

maevemealone

I giggled at the first sentence. I know people to whom this has happened and it's always funny.

felixthecat2

You reap what you sow.

green

Not a surprise. Greed trumps again.

The fact is over fishing and pollution is killing our oceans and all it's inhabitants. Fisherie's and restaurant just want money money money at any cost.

Watch this:

http://www.aseachange.net/

Read this:

http://na.oceana.org/

green

Not a surprise. Greed trumps again.

The fact is over fishing and pollution is killing our oceans and all it's inhabitants. Fisherie's and restaurant just want money money money at any cost.

Watch this:

www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/syl...

www.aseachange.net

Read this:

na.oceana.org