Uk chipper fined selling cheap panga fish as cod. Irish selling mislabelled ones too.

rubadub

An auld fella in work is constantly telling me "you do know that it wasn't cod" whenever I tell him I got a fish in a chipper. I would think it is common enough, some chippers give massive portions and it costs a lot to buy cod.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/gloucestershire/8638633.stm

Fish fraud in Cotswolds lands chippy with fine

A fish and chip shop owner has been fined after his business passed a cheaper fish off as cod.

Trading standards officers analysed "cod" purchased at C'or Blimey in Bourton-on-the-Water, after a tip off from a member of the public in 2009.

They found the flesh was from panga - a cheaper, tropical fish.

Shop owner Neil Amsingh, 49, of Coventry was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 court costs by Cheltenham Magistrates. He admitted the offence.

The head of Gloucestershire County Council's Trading Standards, Eddie Coventry, said: "Panga sells for half the price of cod at market, but in some chip shops, customers are being charged the same price as cod, leading to a tidy profit for the unscrupulous chip shop owner.

"There is no reason why panga cannot be sold, but it must be described accurately so that customers get what they ask for at the counter."

Pangas are small salt-water fish, commonly caught off the coast of Southern Africa.

I wish more did sell cheaper fish types.

CJhaughey

It's common here too, Most people wouldn't be familiar with the musculature of specific fish even if the taste was different.
I have pulled restaurants up over mislabelling fish before and they usually try to BS me, when I tell them what I do they quickly change their tune.
Remember a few years back Hugh FW did a piece where he sold fresh pollack and chips on a stall and the people loved it.
Pollack is very underrated over here and is very similar to Cod (same family).
I see no reason why it shouldn't be sold.
I prefer Haddock to Cod myself but each to their own.

Y'know I am confused, cause Panga is usually short for Pangasius which is a type of freshwater river catfish, The Pangas they are talking about is from South Africa and is not that commonly imported into Europe AFAIK?
The giant portions of fish are more likely to have come from the Catfish rather than the little Pangas fish from SA

Mellor

But isn't there a type of fish sold as cod that is acceptable to trading standards.

I think its Hoki, but could be wrong.

rubadub

CJhaughey wrote: »

when I tell them what I do

What do you do? you certainly know your stuff!

I think that fish is sort of like beers, people have old names in mind that they stick to and will not change for love nor money. If people are heineken drinkers and were blindly served cheaper bavaria they might like it just as much, however if they were told in advance it was cheaper bavaria it would already be in their mind that they might dislike it, to the point of grimacing before even drinking it. Many guinness drinkers balk at the mention of beamish, though in the beer forum a bunch of beer lovers did blind tasting and the majority did not tell them apart.

When I order cod I am happy to get a decent sized white fish which I consider value for money.

Just coincidentally on the front of an Irish paper today was something about haddock being sold as cod too, found this
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-04/esoa-dbr042210.php

DNA barcoding reveals mislabeled cod and haddock in Dublin
Scientists identify 25 percent of cod and haddock in Dublin seafood industry as different species
Ecological scientists in Ireland recently used DNA barcoding to identify species of fish labeled as either "cod" or "haddock" in fish and chip shops, fresh fish counters and supermarkets in 10 postal districts in Dublin. They found that 39 out of 156 (25%) randomly sampled "cod" and "haddock" were genetically entirely different species and, therefore, mislabeled under European Union (EU) regulations.

In addition, as Dana Miller and Stefano Mariani from University College Dublin report in today's Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (e-View), 28 out of 34 (82.4%) smoked fish samples were incorrectly labeled, and 26 out of 28 (92.9%) samples labeled as "smoked cod" were completely different species.

"In light of recent findings from North American scientists using the same approach, it seems mislabeling seafood is pervasive on a global scale," said Miller. "This, coupled with the enormous rise in seafood demand, raises alarm. There is an increasing need for effective and sustainable seafood industry management and especially for transparency within the seafood industry itself on an international level."

Last April, researchers Ron Burton and Phil Hastings from the University of California, San Diego used DNA barcoding to identify fish served in New York restaurants; they found that 25% of the fish were mislabeled.

"Consumers should be able to go to a shop and know they are eating what they paid for, especially when the product is purchased within the EU, where numerous policies relating to labeling and tracing are already in place," said Mariani. The authors argue that these findings suggest mislabeling could contribute to overfishing—that is, mislabeling cod in Ireland could be creating a false perception of market availability.

"There are many problems associated with mislabeling fish, like in the case of mislabeling the depleted red snapper to enhance perceptions of availability in the U.S.," continued Miller. "Consumers may think that if 'cod' keeps showing up in markets and restaurants across Ireland, the stocks must be healthy."

The fish samples the researchers tested included smoked, fried, battered, fresh and frozen cod and haddock. Approximately 25% of these samples turned out to be cod labeled as haddock or vice versa, or a completely different species of fish altogether, such as pollack, whiting or saithe, mislabeled as cod or haddock or even Pacific cod being labeled as Atlantic cod.

To identify the correct species, the scientists extracted tissue from each sample and entered the gene sequences into the Barcode of Life Data Systems online at www.barcodinglife.org; the researchers also cross-referenced the sequence with other databases. The study includes a complete list of all analyzed fish, as they were labeled and identified.

"With the rapid advances in bioinformatics, the traceability of fish stocks will be more affordable and available," said Mariani. "This will hopefully make enforcing the proper labeling of fish easier and will subsequently encourage transparency in the fishing industry. With a restored trust in retailers and policymakers, the seafood industry can be turned into a sustainable operation on a global scale.

Little Alex

They sell (or sold, at least) a fish called pangasius in ALDI, but I'm not sure if this is the same type of fish.

Wikipedia: In other countries the name panga may refer to a different species. In Indonesia, panga refers to Megalaspis cordyla, in Spain, the Netherlands and Poland it refers to Pangasius hypophthalmus, and in Kenya it refers to Trichiurus lepturus.

I bought the one from ALDI once and it was very nice. I didn't read the packaging to be able to tell you exactly which species it was and where it came from, though. CJ, you sound like a man that would be able to determine that.

But yeah, I don't think I'd be able to tell the difference myself between cod, pollock, etc.

CJhaughey

Mislabelling is very common in a lot of seafood.
No reason not to eat it unless you have an allergy to a particular species of fish.
It comes down to basic dishonesty and the opportunity to turn a quick buck.
Here is the original report.
Nothing too startling but what appears to be the case is that Black Pollack/Saithe/Coalfish/Coley is being commonly substituted for smoked Cod.The other fish are White Pollack, Haddock and interestingly Greater Argentine.
Greater Argentine are commonly caught here as bycatch and usually not landed.
I have been curious as to whether they could be utilised here as they are quite a large resource. I guess my questions have been answered as such:D

Regarding Panga, It is my belief that 90% of most fish called panga here will be Pangasius Catfish, widely farmed in Thailand and fed on Soya based feeds.

brick tamland

I've known for ages it couldnt be cod your getting in chippers, cods far t expensive. I for one would prefer if it was called by its proper name. Be it Coley or Hake or whatever

the lasy time i ordered a smoked cod ( over a year ago now ) it was a smoked coley.Not that i mnded jus would have prefered if it was actually sold as that

dudara

Living in the Netherlands at the moment - and I see panga a lot in the shops. It's very common here - and looks quite well.

Kerikosan

CJhaughey wrote: »

Regarding Panga, It is my belief that 90% of most fish called panga here will be Pangasius Catfish, widely farmed in Thailand and fed on Soya based feeds.

You are dead Right with that statement, Many restaurants Buy it in as a substitute White fish. its cheaper and most customers Wouldn't know the difference between types of fish only if the fish looks Right. i've worked in many restaurants here and abroad and looked up The "classification names of the fish" like - Pangasius hypophthalmus and found out what The fish really is and where it is from. Some people Dont care of course to them Fish is fish. But when u want a nice piece of fried Fish like Pollock (Savage), Haddock or Cod you expect to get what u order.

Generally You can tell a Good Fish and Chip Shop By asking firstly what type of fish it is and secondly Where do they Get it from. if they dont know It can be fishy! :mad:.......:D pun intended!

My Local chipper gets his fish from Ballycotton seafood and has the sign and sheets up for everyone to see, if he cant get fish sum times etc. Its not on the menu.

And He gets in the 3 types of Fish - Cod, Haddock, Pollock. each individually priced on the Board above the counter!

aidan24326

brick tamland wrote: »

I've known for ages it couldnt be cod your getting in chippers, cods far t expensive. I for one would prefer if it was called by its proper name. Be it Coley or Hake or whatever

the lasy time i ordered a smoked cod ( over a year ago now ) it was a smoked coley.Not that i mnded jus would have prefered if it was actually sold as that

Problem is though, if you started selling coley and panga and the like in chippers, alot of people wouldn't order it, even though you give it to them and tell them it's cod (or haddock) they'll happily eat it and probably like it too. It's about preconceptions unfortunately. But it's true that we're overly obsessed with cod and haddock here, there's lots of other tasty fish we could be eating, but as someone else mentioned about beers, it can be hard to get people to change. Though overall I'd agree with you that fish should be labelled as it really is, and let people make up their own mind after that. Personally I will eat most fish so it doesn't really bother me.

rubadub

brick tamland wrote: »

I've known for ages it couldnt be cod your getting in chippers, cods far t expensive.

aidan24326 wrote: »

Problem is though, if you started selling coley and panga and the like in chippers, alot of people wouldn't order it

The real cod and coley/panga should be priced accordingly, then its win-win for the customers, just like pub customers can get the cheaper bavaria/fosters/beamish, if they wish, and the rest can pay over the odds for the heineken if they wish. I want this cheap fish at the price it should be, if they are selling it as cod they are likely to be charging more than they should.

Brockagh

Wrights were found to be selling farmed salmon as wild salmon too. And they were being investigated for allegedly passing off Scottish salmon as Irish salmon.

Andrew33

Brockagh wrote: »

Wrights were found to be selling farmed salmon as wild salmon too. And they were being investigated for allegedly passing off Scottish salmon as Irish salmon.

How did the authorities know it was Scottish?? was it wearing a kilt an an angry expression?:D

Le King

Andrew33 wrote: »

How did the authorities know it was Scottish?? was it wearing a kilt an an angry expression?:D

They obviously exsalmon'd it


I'll get my coat.

UrbanSea

Aw fail :P

vicwatson

In reality though there is no way to tell (is there?) whether when I order a smoked Cod that it's not actually smoked Coley, I've had suspicions that my local chippie has been serving smoked Coley as it seems to be largish flakes of fish but no sure way for me to tell ????

aidan24326

vicwatson wrote: »

In reality though there is no way to tell (is there?) whether when I order a smoked Cod that it's not actually smoked Coley, I've had suspicions that my local chippie has been serving smoked Coley as it seems to be largish flakes of fish but no sure way for me to tell ????

Would be very difficult for you to tell unless you're an expert on fish flavours.

A team at UCD recently did a DNA analysis of the fish being sold in supermarkets as 'cod'. I think aomething like 7 out of 24 samples failed i.e they were not cod

Apparently a certain supermarket chain 'who are based in Britain and Ireland' were especially guilty of mislabelling. Now I wonder who that might be.

CJhaughey

If you know what Cod fillets look like and Pollack fillets look like then you can tell the difference.
There are subtle differences in the musculature of the fillets.
The way the muscle blocks are arranged is a clue.
If the skin is on the fillet then its much easier to see.
Black Pollack (Coley) has a very prominent lateral line.
Cod doesn't have a lateral line anything like a Black Pollack.
Smoked fish will usually be Coley, smoked Cod is rare IMO because Cod is so expensive.

ardinn

Even though It would be false advertising, I would be quite happy to have panga served to me - Its a delicious fish, I used to sell it in my bar and I convinced everyone to try it. It is originally vietnamese I believe. Farmed here. And is very filling and cheap - Now im starving!

CJhaughey

Panga is not farmed here, its imported from Vietnam.
Its a tropical fish.

kowloon

I have decided I'm going to head to the chipper for lunch, will ask for something new.

Ubbquittious

This is still going on as far as I know and not just in chippers. There's chancers codding us all the time

ablelocks

Holy Fish, Batman a resurrected 12 year old thread about codding chippers selling cod cod!