June 11 — Massachusetts consumers may soon get reassurance that fish they order in restaurants is really what it says on the menu.
A Massachusetts House hearing on food safety today included discussion on fining supermarkets and restaurants if they mislabel seafood, and would ban the sale of escolar, an oily species of fish often sold as albacore in some East Coast sushi restaurants.
Two years of reporting by the Boston Globe revealed widespread mislabeling of fish in area restaurants; they substitued less expensive fish for the “albacore” and other more expensive fish on their menus.
Under the proposed legislation, Massachusetts businesses caught misrepresenting fish could face fines of up to $800 and have their operating license suspended or revoked. Restaurants caught serving escolar, often mislabeled as albacore at sushi restaurants, could be fined. [READ MORE HERE]