Bait & Switch: Fish Fraud Flourishes

When you order snapper, grouper or white tuna at your local restaurant, market or sushi emporium, there is almost a one-in-three chance you will be served tilapia or some less expensive fish instead, warn researchers who sampled 60 South Florida businesses.

Most alarming was one instance where a fish sold as grouper turned out to be king mackerel, a species federal and state authorities advise women of childbearing age not to eat because of high mercury levels that can harm a fetus.

According to the results of a study released today by the conservation group Oceana, the fish most often mislabeled was red snapper. In six of seven samples from restaurants and markets, a consumer got something else.

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