That snapper you just ate? Chances are it wasn't snapper. According to a study just released by the non-profit advocacy group Oceana, in 34 samples they tested from sushi bars, restaurants, and markets in LA and OC, none of them were actually snapper.
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“Consumers buying fish labeled as 'red snapper' or any other type of
snapper in Southern California could receive anything from tilapia to
pollock, in addition to any one of the overfished or vulnerable rockfish
species,” the group said.
The report also noted that 89% of the time escolar, a species known to
have laxative effects, passed for white tuna in sushi restaurants.
The Los Angeles Times had this video.
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.