Latest news with #SeaD
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Yahoo
19 Baldwin County restaurants claiming imported shrimp is locally sourced: report
GULF SHORES, Ala. (WKRG) — An investigation into the Baldwin County restaurant scene and shrimp served has been finalized, leading to the finding of 19 restaurants making false claims, has learned. Baldwin County home listings rise 10%, sales prices up 7% According to a SeaD Consulting news release, the Southern Shrimp Alliance commissioned the group to genetically analyze shrimp dishes at 44 restaurants in the Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Foley areas. This investigation into the restaurants began after genetic testing of shrimp at the 2024 National Shrimp Festival, which found that four out of five vendors , according to the release. The consulting group found that 25 of the 44 restaurants serve 'authentic Gulf wild-caught shrimp,' while 19 serve imported shrimp, claiming their shrimp was locally sourced. The group said they also found that the seven 'boil houses' were serving authentic, local shrimp. 'It's disheartening to see both festival vendors and local restaurants misleading consumers,' said the President of the Organized Seafood Association of Alabama, Ernie Anderson. 'Our shrimpers work tirelessly to provide high-quality, sustainable seafood. 'When establishments misrepresent their offerings, it undermines our industry and deceives the public.' Specially trained nurses now caring for sexual assault victims in Baldwin County The study found these restaurants to be serving locally sourced shrimp: Acme Oyster House Baumhower's Victory Grille Beach House Kitchen & Cocktails Blalock Seafood & Specialty Market Bubba's Seafood House Cotton's Restaurant Coastal Orange Beach De Soto's Seafood Kitchen Doc's Seafood Shack & Oyster Bar Duck's Diner Fish River Grill Flying Harpoon Foley Fish Company Fresh Seafood Market Gelato Joe's Italian Restaurant & Bar Gulf Bowl & Captain's Choice Gulf Shores Seafood King Neptune's Seafood Restaurant Lartigue's Fresh & Steamed Seafood Local and Company Food+Drink LuLu's Gulf Shores Moe's Original BBQ Picnic Beach Bar & Grill Rouses Market S&S Seafood Market Foley native Julio Jones retires from NFL News 5 is sharing SeaD's results after the group studied numbered, not named, samples, to prevent bias, according to a spokesperson. Unmentioned restaurants may be serving locally sourced shrimp, but may not have been included in this study. SeaD provided an overview of the findings, but not the full test results, upon request. According to the release, the 19 restaurants that misrepresent their shrimp will be urged to align their practices with Alabama labeling laws. There will also be follow-up testing. 'We only publicize the names of the restaurants who are supporting the local shrimping industry first, and will send letters to those restaurants found to be misrepresenting so they can address the issue and ensure it's not a supplier problem,' a SeaD Consulting spokesperson said in a statement to News 5. 'The names are also given to local authorities for review and enforcement.' Alabama enacted the Seafood Labeling Law in May 2024, which mandates that 'restaurants and retailers disclose the country of origin and whether seafood is wild-caught or farm-raised.' The release said penalties for violating the law include warnings and fines up to $1,000, but the Alabama Department of Public Health had been inconsistent in enforcing the law. 'Until more enforcement is in place, Gulf Shores area residents and visitors are urged to stay vigilant and ask for the country of origin of shrimp when served at restaurants, and if in doubt, demand proof of local sourcing by asking to see the box the shrimp came in,' read the release. Baldwin County Strawberry Festival warns of online vendor scams For this year's National Seafood festival, vendors must sell local wild-caught shrimp, and fines will be issued for vendors who do not comply, but it is unclear how this will be enforced. 'The U.S. shrimp industry is facing a crisis. Many of our competitors farm-raise their shrimp using forced labor, banned antibiotics, and have received billions in international development funding,' said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. 'American fishermen harvest premium-quality shrimp that grow naturally in abundant quantities right here in our local waters. Consumers want it. They prefer it. But, they cannot find it easily due to false advertising,' he said. Neil Costes contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Louisiana Crawfish Festival vendor sells Chinese mudbugs without required signage: report
Getty Images A food vendor at the Louisiana Crawfish Festival in St. Bernard Parish has served Chinese-sourced crustaceans and failed to disclose it as required under state law, organizers have confirmed. WVUE-TV Fox 8 reports organizers were made aware of the infraction when an attendee sent them pictures of a vendor using packages of foreign crawfish. Louisiana law requires fair food vendors, restaurants, seafood markets, grocers and other retailers to display signs that detail the origin of any foreign crawfish they sell. Crawfish Festival secretary Cisco Gonzales Jr. confirmed to Fox 8 that the visitor told organizers the vendor had no such signage. 'We know how important supporting local seafood is in St. Bernard Parish,' Gonzales said. 'You know, I come from a family of fishermen. A lot of my uncles and cousins are still down there doing that, and we want to respect that and we wanna make sure that our vendors are respectful of that, too.' The crawfish for all festival vendors are being checked, and they are being asked to display signage if they're serving foreign catch, Gonzales said. The Louisiana Crawfish, held annually for 50 years in Chalmette, started Wednesday and ends Saturday. The origin of seafood sold and served in Louisiana is under heightened scrutiny after Louisiana strengthened its source disclosure law, effective Jan. 1. Optional fines for offenses start at $15,000 for a first offense to $50,000 for third and subsequent offenses. Spot genetic testing from the Texas-based firm SeaD Consulting has revealed most merchants, eateries and vendors sampled are purveying local catch, but some are either knowingly selling foreign seafood or aren't aware of the labeling law. SeaD found four Lafayette restaurants out of 24 sampled were selling foreign shrimp passed off as local in a study it conducted last month. It conducted similar testing in New Orleans in January, when three of 24 restaurants sold undisclosed imported shrimp. In November, a joint investigation from Fox 8 and the Illuminator used SeaD testing and found that the large majority of vendors at a local festival and seafood market were providing catch from the Gulf of Mexico and area waters. SeaD Consulting does not disclose the names of businesses it discovers selling undisclosed foreign seafood, preferring instead to raise awareness of the state labeling law. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Study: 33% of shrimp served in Lafayette restaurants imported
LAFAYETTE, La. () — Some diners in Lafayette may be disappointed to learn that the shrimp on their plate is not local, as advertised. According to a recent study by , 33% of sampled restaurants in Lafayette are serving farm-raised imported shrimp instead of local wild-caught. Between Feb. 10-13, SEAD Consulting conducted random genetic testing on shrimp dishes from 24 local restaurants. Of those 24, eight establishments were selling non-gulf shrimp. Of those eight restaurants, four were misrepresenting their shrimp offerings, deceiving consumers who expect genuine Gulf seafood, according to Dave Williams, SEAD Consulting founder and commercial fishery scientist. 'The results in Lafayette restaurants are similar to the recently at 30%, whereas ,' Williams said. 'To find that one in three dishes being served in the heart of Cajun country are imported farm-raised shrimp instead of local, domestic wild-caught shrimp that supports the Cajun shrimp industry was surprising.' Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now SEAD Consulting developed the Rapid ID Genetic High-Accuracy Test in collaboration with Florida State University, which enables species identification and country-of-origin determination within two hours in field settings, WIlliams said. SeaD investigators said in Lafayette, of the eight restaurants serving the farm-raised imports, four of them labeled imports correctly on menus or in signage, in compliance with . The remaining four were found to be serving imported shrimp while advertising local-wild caught. Another festival caught selling imported shrimp as 'Gulf' shrimp The following 16 restaurants sampled were found to be serving authentic local wild-caught shrimp as advertised (in Lafayette unless otherwise noted): Bon Temps Grill, 1211 W. Pinhook Road Chris' Po-Boys, 1930 W. Pinhook Road Don's Seafood, 4309 Johnston St. Dwight's Restaurant, 4800 Johnston St. Fat Pat's, 626 Verot School Road Fezzo's, 6701 Ambassador Caffery Parkway, Broussard Half Shell Oyster House, 109 Old Camp Road, Suite 114 Louisiana Po'Boys, 5445 Johnston St. Mandez's Seafood Bar & Grill, 110 Doucet Road Olde Tyme Grocery, 218 W. St. Mary Blvd. Poor Boy's Riverside Inn, 240 Tubing Road, Broussard Prejean's, 3480 NE Evangeline Thruway, Carencro Royal Seafood Mart, 137 Albertson Parkway, Broussard Spoonbill Watering Hole & Restaurant, 900 Jefferson St. Ton's Drive-In, 101 W. Main St., Broussard Young's Sports Grill, 305 E. Main St., Broussard SEAD Consulting declined to name the restaurants they found serving imported shrimp, but spokesperson Glenda Beasley said they did give the names of those possibly in violation of labeling laws to enforcement officials. The study was funded by the . Schiff: Millions of Americans 'downright ashamed' of Trump NC woman arrested, charged after allegedly locking boyfriend in storage unit for 5 days Study: 33% of shrimp served in Lafayette restaurants imported Cortez Masto, Grassley push for grants for small police departments Trump Labor secretary pick moves step closer to confirmation with help from Democrats Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Shrimp fraud' rampant at many Gulf Coast restaurants, new studies find
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. 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.'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. 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. 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. 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 at FSU 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
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Yahoo
'Shrimp fraud' rampant at many Gulf Coast restaurants, new studies find
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. 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.'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. 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. 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. 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
