Jonathan Levitt for The Boston Globe
FuGaKyu Japanese Cuisine, Brookline
Fish ordered: Striped bass (pictured)
DNA result: White bass
2011 fish ordered: Striped bass
2011 DNA test: White bass
Sunshine bass, which is a cross between white and striped bass, is farmed and not wild. A FuGaKyu official said the restaurant orders striped bass from the distributor. Unlike last year, FuGaKyu this year correctly labeled its albacore tuna.
10 seafood substitutions
In 2011, a Boston Globe investigation exposed widespread seafood mislabeling at restaurants and stores across Massachusetts. State and federal officials called for better oversight of the fish industry. But a year later, a new round of DNA tests found that not much has changed. Click through the gallery of restaurants and supermarkets that repeatedly served fish with the wrong species name.
Asia Restaurant, Mashpee
Fish Ordered: Red snapper (pictured)
DNA result: Tilapia
2011 fish ordered: Red Snapper
2011 DNA test: Tilapia
Tilapia is a cheaper, farmed species, not wild like the red snapper that was ordered. Asia said the box from its supplier labeled the item as red snapper.
El Oriental de Cuba, Jamaica Plain
Fish ordered: Red snapper
DNA result: Crimson snapper
2011 item ordered: Red snapper
2011 DNA test: Ocean perch
Crimson snapper is less expensive than red snapper. The restaurant confirmed that it served crimson snapper.
FuGaKyu Japanese Cuisine, Brookline
Fish ordered: Striped bass (pictured)
DNA result: White bass
2011 fish ordered: Striped bass
2011 DNA test: White bass
Sunshine bass, which is a cross between white and striped bass, is farmed and not wild. A FuGaKyu official said the restaurant orders striped bass from the distributor. Unlike last year, FuGaKyu this year correctly labeled its albacore tuna.
Hearth ‘n Kettle Restaurant, Attleboro
Fish ordered: Local cod (right)
DNA result: Pacific cod (left)
2011 fish ordered: Scrod (Haddock)
2011 DNA test: Pacific cod
Pacific cod is cheaper, not local, and usually frozen. The restaurant revised virtually all of its menus but waitstaff still wrongly described the fish as local.
Gourmet Dumpling House, Chinatown
Fish ordered: Flounder (pictured)
DNA result: Swai
2011 fish ordered: Flounder
2011 DNA test: Swai
Swai, or Vietnamese catfish, is an inexpensive, farmed species. The restaurant’s co-owner explained the Chinese characters on the box said flounder.
Faith’s Seafood Shack and Sushi Bar, Aquinnah
Fish ordered: White tuna (pictured)
DNA result: Escolar
2011 fish ordered: White tuna
2011 DNA test: Escolar
Escolar can cause severe gastrointestinal problems. Faith’s blamed the mislabeling on a chef’s error.
East Bay Grille, Plymouth
Fish ordered: Grouper
DNA result: Pacific cod
2011 fish ordered: Scrod (Haddock)
2011 DNA test: Pacific cod
Pacific cod is a cheaper species. East Bay Grille blamed the error on the supplier.
Blue Ginger, Wellesley
Fish ordered: Alaskan butterfish
DNA result: Sablefish
2011 fish ordered: Alaskan butterfish
2011 DNA test: Sablefish
Last year, celebrity chef Ming Tsai modified the menu at Blue Ginger in Wellesley after the Globe revealed that the restaurant used sablefish in a dish sold as butterfish, a different species according to the FDA. But sablefish was missing form menus earlier this year. After learning of the Globe’s finding in August, the restaurant restored the name sablefish to the menus.
Ken’s Steak House, Framingham
Fish ordered: Native scrod (cod)
DNA result: Pacific cod
2011 fish ordered: Native scrod (haddock)
2011 DNA test: Pacific cod
Ken’s Steak House in Framingham again misrepresented Pacific cod for the more expensive Atlantic species. The restaurant could not explain how the substitution occurred.
H Mart, Burlington
Fish ordered: Grouper
DNA result: Nile perch
2011 fish ordered: White tuna
2011 DNA test: Escolar
Nile perch is a cheap freshwater species compared to pricey ocean grouper. H Mart says it is investigating the source of the mislabeling.



