Does Something Smell Fishy in Here?

I do not typically buy fish that has been prepackaged. I almost always go to the fish counter to see what the little guys look like and what is fresh that day. However, I have bought raw shrimp in the bag when it was on sale one week and will now keep a lookout for this. Very interesting.

Freezer Burn - Seafood Buyers Get Scammed


by Clare Leschin-Hoar, Posted Mar 31st 2010 @ 2:00PM (slashfood.com)

Consumers who net their seafood in the freezer section may be paying up to $23 a pound for ice, rather than on the shrimp, tilapia or scallops they believed they were purchasing, according to an investigation by the National Conference on Weights and Measures, which tested samples from 17-states, including Florida, California, New York, Wisconsin and North Carolina.

Lisa Weddig, director of regulatory and technical affairs for the National Fisheries Institute, which prompted the four-week investigation, says the ice glaze that's applied to seafood is done to seal in moisture and prevent freezer burn. "But it cannot be included as the weight of the product," she says. Seafood packers who do so are violating packaging and labeling laws.

Over 21,000 packages of seafood were removed for incorrect package weights during the month-long investigation which began at the end of January. In some cases, inspectors found that ice made up to 40 percent of the product's weight. Judy Cardin, Weights and Measures Chief for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, noted that most of the states which spot-checked products reported significant overcharges because of incorrect package weight.

The problem of icy fraud stretches back decades, according to an article in SeaFood Business.

Michael Herndon, spokesman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, says weight fraud can occur in domestic or imported products, and is not limited to a specific type of seafood. The FDA has issued letters of warning to violators, but industry experts say the problem will not likely go away because of recent spot-checks.

So how can consumers make sure they're getting all of the seafood they're actually paying for? Walk the bag over to a scale.

"If you are buying a one-pound bag of shrimp, and it weighs exactly one pound on the scale, chances are you're not getting a true pound of shrimp," says Weddig.