Jetro: No tolerance for mislabeled seafood

Jetro Holdings — which operates the Jetro Cash & Carry and Restaurant Depot wholesale foodservice outlets, with 90 locations nationwide — has sent a letter to its seafood suppliers warning them that it has no tolerance for mislabeled seafood.

Product must be accurately labeled for weight, origin and species, emphasized the College Point, N.Y., company, which asked its seafood suppliers to sign the 5 January letter.

“Any indication that products you sell to Jetro do not comply with the above will result in the return of said product, your de-authorization as a vendor, as well as financial penalties and legal action where appropriate,” said Gene Casazza, Jetro’s VP of perishables. “We know and appreciate that the majority of our seafood vendors proudly comply with the standards that we detail in this letter. We also know that at Jetro there is no room for those who do not.”

Casazza also said Jetro will test product randomly to ensure compliance with government regulations and Jetro specifications, though it is the supplier’s responsibility to test product before shipment.

Jetro’s letter comes just a few weeks after the United States’ three largest foodservice distributors cautioned their domestic and foreign seafood suppliers that they have zero tolerance for mislabeled seafood. Last year, Sysco Corp., US Foods and Performance Food Group each wrote letters to their suppliers informing them that economic integrity is a priority.

There’s been a heighted awareness of seafood fraud amongst the mainstream media since October when the Boston Globe ran an investigation detailing the prevalence of mislabeling at the restaurant level.

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