Restaurants throughout the Gulf Coast are serving imported shrimp but telling their customers they’re feasting on fresh crustaceans fished in the Gulf of Mexico, a series of new studies found.
SeaD Consulting, a food safety technology company, tested shrimp from randomly chosen restaurants in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Biloxi, Mississippi; Galveston, Texas; and Tampa Bay, Florida. Researchers found a significant number of the restaurants were passing off their shrimp as locally sourced, even though they were grown on foreign farms and imported to the U.S.
The cities with the highest “shrimp fraud rate” were Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg, Florida, at 96%, according to SeaD Consulting. Only two of the 44 restaurants sampled were serving authentic shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico, a study found.
A batch of wild caught Gulf of Mexico shrimp sits on a sorting table on shrimper Keo Nguyen’s boat at a dock east of Lake Borgne prior to bringing it to a seafood market Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023.
The tests in other cities yielded similar results. In Biloxi, 82% of the restaurants “were defrauding consumers about what they were buying,” SeaD said. In Galveston, 59% of the 44 restaurants it sampled served imported shrimp while claiming they were caught locally. In Baton Rouge, researchers sampled menu items at 24 restaurants and found nearly 30% – more than 1 in 4 – were misrepresented.
“Consumers come to the coast expecting the finest, freshest Gulf seafood, but what they’re being served often falls far short of that,” said Erin Williams, chief operations officer of SeaD Consulting. “This isn’t just about mislabeling; it’s about eroding consumer trust, undercutting local businesses, and threatening the livelihood of hardworking Gulf shrimpers.”
As restaurants deceive customers, shrimpers are struggling to compete
The consulting company behind the research says the rampant misrepresentation hurts not only customers – who are put at higher risk of consuming tainted food – but also harms local fishermen struggling to compete with the low cost of imported shrimp from countries like India, Vietnam and Ecuador.
About 90% of shrimp consumed in the United States is imported, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
John Williams, the executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, a Florida-based advocacy group that represents shrimpers in multiple states, said in a statement that “Family-owned shrimp businesses operating out of the Port of Tampa are struggling to survive while local restaurants bamboozle customers into thinking locally caught shrimp are being served.”
“If restaurants wish to serve shrimp from countries associated with labor abuses, environmental harms, and banned antibiotic use, that is their choice. But be honest and let consumers choose what they eat,” he said.
Some states are cracking down on shrimp mislabeling
The consulting company and groups advocating for fishermen have pushed state legislators to crack down on the mislabeling of seafood, especially shrimp, at restaurants. So far, Alabama and Louisiana are leading the charge to stamp out the misrepresentation and protect the bottom line of local shrimpers.
Earlier this month, a new law went into effect in Louisiana requiring restaurants selling imported shrimp to include a notice on their menus telling customers the shrimp is imported and listing the country of origin. A similar law went into effect in Alabama in October.
Development of new genetic test led to recent studies
The studies were made possible with the development of a genetic test created by researchers at Florida State University and SeaD, which owns the patent on what it calls the RIGHTTest in partnership with the university.
To detect authenticity, a test strip is placed into a DNA sample solution and examined for the presence of a gene specific to Atlantic white shrimp, which are particularly prone to substitution.
The new test, which can detect raw and cooked species, knocked down a typically five-day process to as little as two hours, according to Florida State University. It also cut out the need to send samples to a testing lab for DNA extraction and analysis. Instead, the new test is much more affordable and can provide on-site results at restaurants and markets.
Curious about where your shrimp is from? Ask
SeaD Consulting and fishermen advocacy groups encourage tourists and locals to eat at restaurants that serve authentic shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico.
However, finding out what restaurants are honestly serving shrimp from the Gulf is challenging. As processed shrimp is often peeled it can be difficult even for experts to discern shrimp species based on physical characteristics alone.
“When you peel the shrimp, they look similar,” Prashant Singh, an assistant professor who assisted in developing the shrimp species test, said in a statement.
SeaD Consulting advises people to ask where their shrimp is from and support stronger regulations against the mislabeling of seafood.
“Don’t be afraid to ask your server for proof that the shrimp is locally caught, such as seeing the box it came in ‒restaurants should be proud to show where their seafood comes from,” the company said in a statement.
(This story was updated to add additional information.)
Contributing: Wade Tatangelo, USA TODAY NETWORK
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Shrimp fraud’ found to be rampant at Gulf Coast restaurants
