Some restaurants that had mislabeled fish
At Minado Restaurant in Natick, tilapia was substituted for red snapper and escolar was advertised as white tuna. A manager at the sushi buffet said escolar was the American name for white tuna.
2012 update: Minado changed the red snapper sign at its buffet to read “tilapia,” the fish it was actually serving. But “white tuna” was written next to the word “escolar” — as if the two were interchangeable. They are not. Minado staff did not return calls seeking comment.
Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
| October 22, 2011
At East Bay Grille in Plymouth, what was advertised as native scrod or haddock was actually previously frozen Pacific cod. A general manager said the restaurant hadn’t yet updated the menu. The revised menu, however, still describes the fish as "fresh day boat scrod."
2012 update: The Scrod Nantucket, or haddock, was previously frozen Pacific cod. And Pacific cod was also substituted for the grouper on the menu. A general manager attributed a clerical error to the haddock mistake and blamed the grouper mislabeling on a supplier.
Debee Tlumacki for The Boston Globe
| October 22, 2011
At Skipjack’s in Foxborough, escolar was also incorrectly labeled as white tuna. The restaurant chain changed its menu to list the item as both white tuna and escolar. Escolar, however, is not part of the tuna family.
2012 update: Skipjack’s no longer serves white tuna and the haddock tested was properly labeled.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
| October 22, 2011
McCormick & Schmick’s in the Back Bay substituted haddock, a delectable but more abundant and traditionally cheaper species, for Atlantic cod. An official with the restaurant chain apologized for the mistake.
2012 update: The Atlantic cod tested was accurately labeled.
Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff
| October 22, 2011
The operator of Kowloon in Saugus said he was unaware that escolar was being served as white tuna and that tilapia was labeled as red snapper.
2012 update: Kowloon also stopped serving white tuna but the striped bass on the menu was a cheaper, farmed hybrid bass.
Globe File Photo
| October 22, 2011
The owner of Doyle’s Cafe said he thought he was serving Atlantic cod in a dish, but it was actually caught off Alaska and shipped east in freezer containers.
2012 update: The fresh cod described on the menu again turned out to be previously frozen Pacific cod. The owner said he has since revised the menu to simply say cod.
Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff
| October 22, 2011
At the H Mart supermarket in Burlington, crimson snapper was substituted for the more expensive red snapper. And escolar, which can cause gastrointestinal problems, took the place of white tuna. An executive with H Mart blamed a supplier for the mix-up.
2012 update: H Mart sold cheap African freshwater perch as pricier ocean grouper. And Pinjalo snapper was misrepresented as the more expensive red snapper. A company executive said he was investigating the mislabeling problems.
Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff
| October 22, 2011
