Conn. condemns excess seafood glazing

The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection on Monday said that retailers statewide can help consumers save money by cracking down on excessive use of ice glazing on frozen seafood products.

The department joined 18 other states in an investigation of short-weighted seafood following a 2009 U.S. Government Accountability Office report that said federal agencies were not doing enough to prevent economic fraud in the seafood industry.

Connecticut’s review included packaged seafood from 20 different grocery locations across the state, including major grocery chains and independent grocers.

“We tested 52 different seafood products and exactly half of them failed, in that the packages contained less actual product in weight than was labeled,” said Jerry Farrell Jr., commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. “Excess ice made up the difference, which on average was 4.5 percent per package. If you’re buying a 5-pound bag of shrimp at USD 6 a pound, but a quarter pound is just ice, you’re really paying USD 6.31 a pound for the shrimp you get.”
 
Inspectors removed all packages of the 26 failed products from sale. In all, 847 packages of short-weight seafood were taken off sale. The actual dollar cost of the shortages ranged from just USD 0.02 to 1.95 per package.

“On average, a customer buying one of these short-weight packages would pay USD 0.50 on just ice, so the economic impact of just the 847 packages we removed was more than USD 425,” said Farrell. “These short-weights are grossly unfair to the consumer, and quickly add up. No one should be paying for excess ice on frozen seafood.”

Connecticut has adopted National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards for verifying net weights of seafood. Ice glazing is not allowed to count in the net weight of the product.

“The Department of Consumer Protection is notifying the failed companies with our concerns about over-glazing and advising them to take immediate measures to comply with federal standards,” said Farrell. “Once this investigation is completed, we may impose financial penalties on these companies.”

“We are encouraged by efforts like these,” said Lisa Weddig, secretary of the Better Seafood Board (BSB). “Back in May we brought together a number of state and federal agencies to educate their regulators about this issue and now we’re seeing action.

“Customers should get the weight they pay for, and targeted testing of products already on the shelves is one way to help make sure that happens,” added Weddig. “But shining a bright light on producers who handle seafood before the consumer sees it will go a long way to addressing this issue at the source. Connecticut apparently found weights that were 3, 4 and 5 percent ice, but the BSB routinely sees wholesale offers made up of 10, 20 and 30 percent ice. Whether they realize it or not, that type of systemic fish fraud is costing consumers big.”

The following branded seafood products failed the inspection due to short weight.

• Great American Seafood Imports Co. Seafood Medley
• Snow Crab Clusters 3 lbs or more
• Gonsalves Carapau Chinchards
• Gonsalves Small Mackerel
• Stone Crabs
• Sea Pearl 26/30 Easy Peel White Headless Shrimp
• World Classics Peeled, Deveined Cooked Cocktail Shrimp 71/90
• World Classics Peeled, Deveined Cooked Cocktail Shrimp 71/90
• Pana Pesca Calamari Rings
• Nantucket Supreme Wild Caught 10/20 Sea Scallops
• Price Chopper Cooked Shrimp 70-90
• Price Chopper Sea Scallops
• Price Chopper Sea Scallops
• Tampa Bay Under 10 Sea Scallops
• Aqua Star Raw Seafood Mix
• Arctic Shores Uncooked Deveined, EZ Peel Shrimp 31-40
• Extra Large Bay Scallops
• Northern Chef Farm Raised Bay Scallops
• Northern Chef Wild-Caught All Natural Seafood Medley
• Cape Gourmet Raw Peeled, Deveined Tail-On Shrimp
• Captains Call Wild Caught 10/20 Scallops
• Octopus Pulpo Wild Caught Octopus
• Gold Star Seafood All Natural Bay Scallops
• Wal-Mart Medium Shrimp Peeled & Deveined w/ Tail Off 60-80
• Nautilus Raw Shrimp 16-20 Easy-Peel
• Nautilus Raw Shrimp 31-40 Easy-Peel

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