Oceana Canada warns of seafood fraud in Ottawa

A new report warns mislabelled fish is being sold in Ottawa restaurants, sushi vendors and grocery stores.

Oceana Canada tested 22 restaurants, 12 sushi vendors and ten grocery stores in Ottawa based on their popularity and their proximity to Parliament Hill, government offices and media headquarters.

The independent charity says 45 of the 98 samples tested last July were mislabelled.  One-third of mislabelled items were deemed “suspicious substitutions”, with the name on the menu or label not matching the type of fish being sold.

The report states:

• Seafood fraud and mislabelling were found in 14 of the 19 different types of fish targeted.
• Seafood fraud and mislabelling was found at 10 of 12 sushi vendors and 15 of 22 restaurants tested.
• 68% of sushi vendor samples and 51% of non-sushi restaurant samples were mislabelled.
• 18% of grocery store samples were mislabelled.

Oceana Canada did not name the businesses and restaurants it studied.