Imported fish

[Regal]

Was just informed about the risks of imported fish into this country. This video points to the Government not inspecting enough. I however, think that American business have just gotten too greedy and are simply concerned more about profit margins than they are with quality. Walmart mentality at work again!!!
See video YouTube - TOXIC SEAFOOD WARNING

 

[brin]

Yep - it's a shame - my wife and I love seafood but the only time we will eat it is when we visit the Georgia coast and can buy it right off the boat that caught it. We have not bought any at the stores or in restaurants in a few years now since we first heard about the conditions they are raised in , processed and the factory ships at sea operated by Chinese and other countries fishermen are not up to safe standards at all. Real Shame !

 

[Bird]

Is there anything we can eat that someone hasn't reported as being unsafe after their "study"?

I'm certainly not qualified to, or have any reason to, disagree with anything in that video, but I do like almost all kinds of seafood, and will continue to eat it. Sure, I'd prefer buying "Product of the USA" but as with almost all products today, that's sometimes hard to do. Do you think that video exaggerates a little bit? If the seafood was actually that bad, it seems it wouldn't be found in every supermarket and restaurant in the country.

 

[dave1949]

The Straight Dope: What's better, farm-raised salmon or wild? Are upscale restaurants serving ugly fish?

It seems like seafood is undergoing quite a transformation. I don't know if the video is exagerated, but it would probably be wise to spend the time to find out what exactly is being served and where the seafood you eat comes from. Even farm raised salt water fish in the US/Can is not totally safe. People are getting tapeworms from eating raw salmon, for example.

If you read colonial-era histories of the New England and Canadian Maritimes cod fishery and compare that to now, you come to understand how far the ocean fisheries have fallen.

I am not much of a seafood eater, but it is just a taste preference thing. For people who really enjoy seafood, it's not looking very hopeful.
Dave.

 

[brin]

Is there anything we can eat that someone hasn't reported as being unsafe after their "study"?

I'm certainly not qualified to, or have any reason to, disagree with anything in that video, but I do like almost all kinds of seafood, and will continue to eat it. Sure, I'd prefer buying "Product of the USA" but as with almost all products today, that's sometimes hard to do. Do you think that video exaggerates a little bit? If the seafood was actually that bad, it seems it wouldn't be found in every supermarket and restaurant in the country.

Eat up Bird, in fact they say you should eat a lot of seafood so you have at it but you were warned.

 

[Bird]

Eat up Bird, in fact they say you should eat a lot of seafood so you have at it but you were warned.

Yep, we've been warned, and that's a good thing. But what will you eat instead to get all the nutrition you need and still be guaranteed safe?

Dave, that straight dope link is interesting, though nothing new. It seems that almost every kind of seafood is becoming more scarce, limits more restrictive, and of course more expensive. Of course I've always lked seafood (and fresh water fish) but I'm also old enough to remember one reason we ate a lot of it was because it was cheap to buy 50 years ago. That link also talks about some ugly fish that used to be considered only trash fish now being popular food fish. Yep, just for one example; the saltwater sheepshead. The commercial fishermen using nets in Texas threw them back, or gave them away on the rare occasions they could find anyone who wanted them. They were not a game fish, so no restrictions. My dad and I used to go catch 15 or 20 in the morning, go fillet them, eat lunch, and go do it again in the afternoon. Then they became a game fish; 12" minimum length, daily bag limit of 5. A year ago in January my brothers and I went fishing for them, caught and released dozens of undersized ones, and kept several legal ones, but the minimum length had gone up to 13", and we did not get our limit by any means. And now the minimum length is 15". The flounder, which used to have no restrictions, is even more restrictive now, as are all the game fish.

 

[brin]

" Yep, we've been warned, and that's a good thing. But what will you eat instead to get all the nutrition you need and still be guaranteed safe? "

Bird I saw a piece on Discovery Channel about the fish farms in the Asian countries and it would make you sick to see the sewage they are raised in - they also showed the Asian fishing ships with processing factories and flash freezers on board and the conditions the hidden camera revealed would again make you sick. If you can eat fresh water fish or any local fish , and you know where it came from you are fine but to answer your question about what to eat that is nutrional..Skinless, boneless chicken, very lean cuts of beef and pork and lots of vegetables will do just fine.

 

[Bird]

I saw a piece on Discovery Channel about the fish farms in the Asian countries and it would make you sick to see the sewage they are raised in - they also showed the Asian fishing ships with processing factories and flash freezers on board and the conditions the hidden camera revealed would again make you sick.

I don't doubt it a bit, and I'm sorry I have not seen that piece, but then of course I'd want to know who did it, why they did it, etc.; i.e., whether or not it was deliberately biased. And of course it may have been absolutely on the up and up. Then, of course, there's always the matter of individual perceptions. I can remember when I was a lieutenant and some of my officers were searching for a burglar well after midnight in one of the most popular and most expensive seafood restaurants in Dallas and they said, after seeing the kitchen, they would never eat in that place. I never ate there myself, but only because it was out of my price range. That restaurant had never had complaints and the city inspectors had never found anything wrong with it. One of my grandmothers many years ago worked for awhile in a sardine cannery, so there's no way she'd eat a sardine. And one of my co-workers once worked in a maraschino cherry cannery, so there's no way he'd eat a maraschino cherry.

Now of course, I am in no way criticizing you or anyone else for not eating seafood. I'm not only firmly in favor of individual choice, but also fewer people eating seafood will hopefully keep prices down for me.:laughing:

 

[brin]

Bird - I know what you mean ...I once talked to a man that had worked at Red Lobster and said he quit because he once saw a big worm coming out through the flesh of one of the fish he was cleaning..that has been years ago but he said he would never eat there. It is hard to know what is safe and what is not and who is biased and who is not. I do not eat from salad bars since I have no faith in how fresh the food is ..I have a hard time believing they just throw the food away at the end of a day and start out fresh the next day and the thought of someone dragging their finger throught the open containers of food makes me sick. Like anything else in life..get your facts as best you can and go forth,

 

[dave1949]

Yep, we've been warned, and that's a good thing. But what will you eat instead to get all the nutrition you need and still be guaranteed safe?

Dave, that straight dope link is interesting, though nothing new. It seems that almost every kind of seafood is becoming more scarce, limits more restrictive, and of course more expensive. Of course I've always lked seafood (and fresh water fish) but I'm also old enough to remember one reason we ate a lot of it was because it was cheap to buy 50 years ago. That link also talks about some ugly fish that used to be considered only trash fish now being popular food fish. Yep, just for one example; the saltwater sheepshead. The commercial fishermen using nets in Texas threw them back, or gave them away on the rare occasions they could find anyone who wanted them. They were not a game fish, so no restrictions. My dad and I used to go catch 15 or 20 in the morning, go fillet them, eat lunch, and go do it again in the afternoon. Then they became a game fish; 12" minimum length, daily bag limit of 5. A year ago in January my brothers and I went fishing for them, caught and released dozens of undersized ones, and kept several legal ones, but the minimum length had gone up to 13", and we did not get our limit by any means. And now the minimum length is 15". The flounder, which used to have no restrictions, is even more restrictive now, as are all the game fish.

We used to catch a fair number of Lake Erie sheepshead while fishing for perch or walleyes. They look alot like the fish in your pic minus the stripes. I don't know if anyone eats them now, I know not many did when I was kid. I think the Fish and Game people want them kept if caught now since they were over taking the walleye, but not sure about that. In the Spring and early summer we would take some home and bury them in the garden for fertilizer. A decent sized one is fun to catch since they put up a good fight for a while.

I used to go out perch fishing with my Grandpa and Dad in the 1950's. We used a 16' metal row boat with a 7 HP Martin outboard motor. We could fish with spreaders - a springy wire on a single leader with a worm baited hook at each end. It was not unusal to pull up two perch at a time. There was no limit, or it so high it didn't matter. They aren't big fish, so it takes a mess of them to make a good meal. People skinned and filleted them, then deep fried in batter usually. I really enjoyed eating those since they have hardly any fish oil taste
Dave.

 

[Bird]

One of my wife's brothers came by this evening and took us out to eat at the Red Lobster. The Admiral's Feast is a big meal, but sure good; fried fish, shrimp, scallops, and clams.

 

[kidr]

" Yep, we've been warned, and that's a good thing. But what will you eat instead to get all the nutrition you need and still be guaranteed safe? "

Bird I saw a piece on Discovery Channel about the fish farms in the Asian countries and it would make you sick to see the sewage they are raised in - they also showed the Asian fishing ships with processing factories and flash freezers on board and the conditions the hidden camera revealed would again make you sick. If you can eat fresh water fish or any local fish , and you know where it came from you are fine but to answer your question about what to eat that is nutrional..Skinless, boneless chicken, very lean cuts of beef and pork and lots of vegetables will do just fine.

If you saw the way chicken was processed you wouldn't eat that either. How about the deaths from contaminated veggies? What to do, what to do :confused2:

 

[Regal]

Do you think that video exaggerates a little bit? If the seafood was actually that bad, it seems it wouldn't be found in every supermarket and restaurant in the country.

The video may well be exaggerated. Most news reports are inaccurate to some degree. They have a story to sell. As far as bad product not reaching to every supermarket or restaurant, if only 1% is tested and rejected, then isn't there 99% left to be distributed that never got checked?
I realize that just waking up in the morning comes with risks. There is hardly anything we can touch, breath, or look at that won't cause cancer according to each new report. However, our society is so dollar driven today it seems that we are exposed to some of these things simply for the profits of others.
Where have the morals gone in this world?

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Funny how the OP blames big corporations for this when it is really the fault of the public that purchases. You see imported fish for $5 a pound next to our fish for $8 a pound and the imported fish outsells everytime. This country has asked for cheaper products for a long time and deserve everything they get from it.

As far as cleanliness goes, I have repaired forklifts in literally thousands of food processing plants. I have become numb to almost anything. I think nothing of dropping a slice of pizza face down on my floor, pick it up and eat it. My floor is cleaner than those plants are. Did you know the FDA has standards for how many pounds of mouse feces are allowed in a ton of food? The list goes on and on. Either grow your own food or get used to it.

 

[brin]

Funny how the OP blames big corporations for this when it is really the fault of the public that purchases. You see imported fish for $5 a pound next to our fish for $8 a pound and the imported fish outsells everytime. This country has asked for cheaper products for a long time and deserve everything they get from it.

As far as cleanliness goes, I have repaired forklifts in literally thousands of food processing plants. I have become numb to almost anything. I think nothing of dropping a slice of pizza face down on my floor, pick it up and eat it. My floor is cleaner than those plants are. Did you know the FDA has standards for how many pounds of mouse feces are allowed in a ton of food? The list goes on and on. Either grow your own food or get used to it.

You are exactly right..I have toured chicken plants in Ft. Smith , Ark and Farm Raised Catfish processing operations in the Miss. delta and they were both up to standards but I have seen other plants and the kitchens of many - many restaurants that would make you sick. I just read an article today about eating in restaurants is the easiest way to catch hepatitis. It is not just seafood from other countries, rather I think we all just need to be aware and watchful and not just think everything we consume is safe..it is not !

 

[dave1949]

Funny how the OP blames big corporations for this when it is really the fault of the public that purchases. You see imported fish for $5 a pound next to our fish for $8 a pound and the imported fish outsells everytime. This country has asked for cheaper products for a long time and deserve everything they get from it.

As far as cleanliness goes, I have repaired forklifts in literally thousands of food processing plants. I have become numb to almost anything. I think nothing of dropping a slice of pizza face down on my floor, pick it up and eat it. My floor is cleaner than those plants are. Did you know the FDA has standards for how many pounds of mouse feces are allowed in a ton of food? The list goes on and on. Either grow your own food or get used to it.

I think the average consumer thinks they are comparing 'apples to apples' when looking at $5 fish and $8 fish. The asumption is, 'this food is inspected and meets requirements', so price is the deciding factor. We really expect the Acme Seafood Co. to play by the rules. If we are suspicious or point out the shortcomings, we get labeled as anti-business, big government-types, enviros or greenies or the like. Who lobbies against country of origin food labeling? Not consumers.

At least for every consumer who sees a news story such as the video, they are educated a bit on the topic. And, it points out the problem with self-inspection by food processors. Consumers didn't lobby for that either.

I agree food will never be 100% pure and free of 'unwanted' ingredients. Home grown is as close as we can get probably.
Dave.

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

I think the average consumer thinks they are comparing 'apples to apples' when looking at $5 fish and $8 fish. The asumption is, 'this food is inspected and meets requirements', so price is the deciding factor. We really expect the Acme Seafood Co. to play by the rules. If we are suspicious or point out the shortcomings, we get labeled as anti-business, big government-types, enviros or greenies or the like. Who lobbies against country of origin food labeling? Not consumers.

At least for every consumer who sees a news story such as the video, they are educated a bit on the topic. And, it points out the problem with self-inspection by food processors. Consumers didn't lobby for that either.

I agree food will never be 100% pure and free of 'unwanted' ingredients. Home grown is as close as we can get probably.
Dave.

Dave,
Don't know if you have read "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair,
but this kind of stuff has been going on for years.
That said, One of the areas that I think that should be MORE government involvement is the area of food safety.
Have had two pets die from crappy Chinese pet food, and can only think that the stuff we are eating, ain't a whole bunch better.
Actually one of my ideas was to raise tilapia here, not a huge investment and a lot of profit.

 

[herd]

You are exactly right..I have toured chicken plants in Ft. Smith , Ark and Farm Raised Catfish processing operations in the Miss. delta and they were both up to standards but I have seen other plants and the kitchens of many - many restaurants that would make you sick. I just read an article today about eating in restaurants is the easiest way to catch hepatitis. It is not just seafood from other countries, rather I think we all just need to be aware and watchful and not just think everything we consume is safe..it is not !

The reason that "restaurants food'' is the #1 reason for the spread of Hepatitis is due to the food handlers not washing their hands, particularly after using the bathroom. I think it is even a more prevalent problem in fast food joints with mostly younger help.

 

[Bird]

I don't doubt that people have gotten it from restaurants, but the only two people in my immediate family who ever got hepatitis, my mother and a sister-in-law, got it in hospitals. No place is safe.:laughing:

 

[dave1949]

Dave,
Don't know if you have read "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair,
but this kind of stuff has been going on for years.
That said, One of the areas that I think that should be MORE government involvement is the area of food safety.
Have had two pets die from crappy Chinese pet food, and can only think that the stuff we are eating, ain't a whole bunch better.
Actually one of my ideas was to raise tilapia here, not a huge investment and a lot of profit.

I read it many years ago. 'The Jungle' was written in 1906 and the FDA was created that same year. I think globalization has brought back many of the issues we had pretty well handled in the US.

1906
The original Food and Drugs Act is passed by Congress on June 30 and signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. It prohibits interstate commerce in misbranded and adulterated foods, drinks and drugs.

The Meat Inspection Act is passed the same day.

Shocking disclosures of insanitary conditions in meat-packing plants, the use of poisonous preservatives and dyes in foods, and cure-all claims for worthless and dangerous patent medicines were the major problems leading to the enactment of these laws.

Perhaps the main difference between then and now is people believe the food is being inspected when in reality only a very small percentage is.

Tilapia should be a good project in a warm climate. Years ago I read an article about using a tilapia pond as part of a vegetable growing operation. Something about nutrient rich water from the fish pond used to irrigate the crops and feeding the tilapia waste greens from the veggies I think. It wasn't a commercial scale thing, but maybe food for thought. Double use of the water and reduced fertilizer purchase even if you feed pellets.
Dave.