What You Need to Know About Fake Tuna
Because It Does Exist
Many of us love fish, and tuna is one such favorite. Some people like it cooked and some eat it raw. Real tuna has wonderful health benefits, with high doses of healthy omega 3 fatty acids included. This helps to keep our cholesterol down, while keeping our arteries and blood vessels stay unclogged from toxins.
Is Fake Tuna Real?
In today’s world, you might not even have realize it – you might believe you were eating real tuna at a restaurant or sushi bar or bought some fish from your store, when in fact it was nothing more than fake tuna!
Some of it is labeled as real tuna. The seafood industry and restaurants alike have got us all fooled. Oceana, a world-renowned fish and ocean conservation organization, published in their report (and here are their findings) the real truth behind tuna.
From 2010 to 2012, Oceana conducted one of the largest seafood fraud investigations in the world to date, collecting more than 1,200 seafood samples from 674 retail outlets in 21 states to determine if they were honestly labeled.DNA testing found that one-third (33 percent) of the 1,215 samples analyzed nationwide were mislabeled, according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines (click here to learn more).
In these findings, (bear in mind that the findings were based on fresh tuna, not pre-cooked canned or the packaged tuna), they reveal that 55% of tuna used in the restaurant world and in shops is fake, it’s fraudulent. It was also revealed that 84% of tuna that was thought to be real tuna and which was labeled ‘white tuna’ was, in fact, escolar, a mackerel kind of fish that was actually banned by the FDA before 1992.
In some countries, it is still banned, such as in Italy and Japan. Escolar has no resemblance to tuna whatsoever. The problem with fake tuna, or escolar, is it can actually make you sick. It is considered toxic. The fatty oily substances found in escolar is not the rich Omega 3 fatty acids of real tuna. These are actually wax esters, which humans can’t actually digest. If you eat too much of it, you can get diarrhea.
The Real Difference
You have to know how to recognize real tuna. Real tuna is costly. Escolar is snow white fish, whilst tuna can look opaque. Check also from your fishmonger where your tuna comes from; this is crucial – if they can’t answer your questions, walk away. You don’t want to be caught out with faked out fish or its nasty side effects!
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