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10 SEAFOOD SUBSTITUTIONS

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Item ordered:  Striped bass (pictured)
DNA result: White bass 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.

    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.

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    Fish Ordered: Red snapper (pictured)DNA result: Tilapia
2011 item 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.

    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.

    Getty Images North America
    AAA
    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.

    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.

    Globe Photo/Wiqan Ang
    AAA
    Item ordered:  Striped bass (pictured)
DNA result: White bass
2011 item 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.

    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.

    Jonathan Levitt for The Boston Globe
    AAA
    Item ordered: Local cod (left)
DNA result:  Pacific cod (right)
2011 item 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.

    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.

    Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
    AAA
    Item ordered: Flounder (pictured)
DNA result: Swai
2011 item 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.

    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.

    AP Photo/Lisa Poole
    AAA
    Item ordered: White tuna (pictured)
DNA result: Escolar
2011 item ordered: White tuna, Red snapper
2011 DNA test: Escolar, Tilapia
The substituted species can cause of severe gastrointestinal problems. The restaurant blamed it on a chef’s error.

    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.

    Mark Wilson/Globe Staff
    AAA
    Item ordered: Grouper
DNA result: Pacific cod
2011 item ordered: Scrod (Haddock)
2011 DNA test: Pacific cod
Pacific cod is a cheaper species. East Bay Grille blamed the error on the supplier.

    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.

    Debee Tlumacki/the Boston Globe
    AAA
    Item ordered: Alaskan butterfishDNA result: Sablefish
2011 item 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 fish 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.

    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.

    Erik Jacobs for the Boston Globe
    AAA
    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.

    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.

    Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff
    AAA
    Item ordered: Grouper
DNA result: Nile perch
2011 item 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.

    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.

    Evan McGlinn for The Boston Globe
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