Tag Archives: Seafood

Whole Foods, Target, playing same game of consumer deceit with seafood

Posted on by
1

Seafood in Kansas sucks.

Of course it does, we’re at least 20 hours from any major body of water.

 But the available choices became a bunch more confusing.

I chuckle when one of the local upscale restaurants advertizes mussels from Prince Edward Island (that’s in Canada) for some outrageous price to pay for the air transit. They’re mussels, a buck a pound in Ontario.

Whole Foodies announced a few days ago they would continue selling farmed fish, but only under the Whole Foods Market Responsibly Farmed logo, verified by third-party auditors, which is completely meaningless.

Now Target Corp., another of our regular shopping destinations, has announced it has eliminated all farmed salmon from its fresh, frozen and smoked seafood sections at stores nationwide.

The discount giant said it wanted to ensure that its salmon was "sourced in a sustainable way that helps to preserve abundance, species health and doesn’t harm local habitats."

The Minneapolis company said salmon farms could hurt the environment through pollution, chemicals and parasites.

So who’s right? Whole Foods or Target? I want aquaculture, to save the oceans, and don’t buy into some third-party auditing bullshit.

 

Bad seafood destined for Year’s Eve dinners seized by Italian authorities

Posted on by
Reply

Italian authorities have seized some 500 tons of bad seafood and shellfish believed to be largely destined for New Year’s Eve dinner parties.

Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia said Wednesday that worms were found in some of the fish seized across Italy between Dec. 10-23. In other cases, mussels defrosted months earlier were passed off as fresh, and fish coming from Asia was passed off as domestic.

Zaia described the food as "garbage" including brine jellyfish, and said organized crime was likely behind it.
 

Fish folks say actor Jeremy Piven wet about mercury claims

Posted on by
Reply

Seafood overload for dinner Saturday night. Crab legs and lobster tail on clearance in the seafood capital of the Midwest, a decent Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (I’m having a Sideways moment), and corn. Sorenne loves the corn-on-the-cob (below).

Jeremy Piven (right), excellent in The Larry Sanders Show before cable shows became hip, a bunch of movies with childhood friend John Cusack, and now as super-ego agent Ari Gold on Entourage, which has become as boring as E’s personaiitly seems on the show, also likes the seafood. Piven says he’s been eating fish twice a day for 20 years and that contributed to methylmercury poisoning which caused him to leave the cast of a Broadway play in 2008.

The producers said, no way, and took action against Piven. An arbitrator cleared Piven of any wrongdoing.

But the National Fisheries Institute said in a recent statement to “treat Piven’s statements with skepticism. …

“It is important to note that no peer-reviewed medical journal has ever published any evidence of a case of methylmercury poisoning caused by the normal consumption of commercial seafood in the U.S. This ruling does not change that simple scientific fact.”

Eat raw fish … Get a 9-foot tapeworm

Posted on by
1

Amy didn’t feel too good last night.  She thought maybe it was the damn-near raw tuna on her salad the other afternoon when we ventured to our nearest patio for some Sunday relaxation.

Probably not. But raw is not without its risks.

One summer day in August 2006, Anthony Franz went to a Chicago area hospital carrying a 9-foot worm.

He did not find it in his garden.

Franz is one of the few, but growing number of tapeworm victims in cities across the world who are discovering (or rediscovering) that some of the most popular fish can host parasites.

Although still rare, a study this June showed salmon tapeworm infestations tripled from an average of 0.32 cases per 100,000 people each year in Kyoto, Japan, to at least to 1 case in 100,000 people in 2008. As more people adopt sushi and undercooked fish diets around the world so too, has the worm spread. …

"Parasites are really a non-issue, it’s not as big of a problem as time and temperature holding," said Pamela Tom, Seafood Network Information Center Director at the University of California, Davis. "People focus on methyl mercury, but in reality it’s not as important as the bacteria."

Rojak contaminated by raw seafood kills 2, sickens 150 in Singapore

Posted on by
Reply

The rojak served at Singapore’s Geylang Serai Temporary Market, which sickened more than 150 and killed two women, was cross-contaminated with Vibrio parahaemolyticus from raw seafood, according to government investigators.

Rojak is a fruit and vegetable salad dish commonly found in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

In 1983, 34 people fell ill – also after eating at a Geylang Serai Indian-rojak stall, after drippings from raw cuttlefish fell into the rojak gravy, which was in uncovered containers on the lower shelves of a refrigerator.
 

Florida man dies from raw oysters

Posted on by
1

As I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of raw seafood.

Medical examiners in Florida say a Florida man who was a passenger and died suddenly following a high speed chase with police, had a deficient liver and was killed by Vibrio vulnificus in raw oysters he had eaten earlier.

Meanwhile, Mahogany clams served at Hinerwadel’s Grove in North Syracuse, New York, have been found to contain two bacteria, including campylobacter. So far, 236 people have been sickened. The investigation continues.

Reasons to avoid raw shellfish

Posted on by
Reply

Me, I love a bowl of mussels with a white wine and tomato sauce (go figure) and a thick bread for dipping. That’s me (right) indulging while in New Zealand. Kansas isn’t exactly the seafood capital of the U.S., and I chuckle when I see mussels from Prince Edward Island (that’s in Canada) advertized in Manhattan (Kansas).

But I also take my seafood cooked. Here’s why:

Hinerwadel’s in North Syracuse, New York served up some raw clams earlier in September that is responsible for at least 160 illnesses. The clams apparently originated in Maine.

And at least 40 people the Valencia region of Spain have contracted Hepatitis A after eating frozen shellfish from Peru. They were probably thawed and either served raw or undercooked.

Don’t’ eat poop. Or at least cook it out.

Bad seafood fells Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas

Posted on by
1

The Black Eyes Peas need new caterers, or food poisoning works as an excuse for celebrities just like mere mortals.

First, Peas rapper, Taboo, was sent to hospital with food poisoning Sept. 13, 2007 in Stockholm.

Perez Hilton reports that last night, lead singer Fergie was noticeably absent from the group’s show in El Salvador.

The group’s singer did come out briefly in sweats, a cap and dark sunglasses (left, exactly as shown) and told the crowd that she ate some bad seafood and was not well. She sang one song and back to the vomitorium.

The band has already said they will make it up to the Salvadorian people with another concert real soon.