A few years ago, consumers around the world were horrified to learn that seafood they ate was the product of forced labor in Asia. They responded in the American way, by filing class actions against the retailers they believed had misled them. Now a prominent lawsuit against warehouse club Costco over its shrimp has been dismissed. [More]
shrimp
Would You Pay $25 A Pound For Shrimp Raised Locally Indoors?
By 8.15.16
You don’t have to be a shrimp boat captain to bring the crustaceans to market: with concerns over the environmental impact as well as slave labor in the international shrimping industry, some are trying out new methods of shrimp production, including raising them in indoor tanks. [More]
State Department: Thai Fishing Vessels Still Using Forced Labor
By 4.13.16 — Updated: 3.16.17
It’s been almost three years since activists first drew the world’s attention to the conditions on fishing boats out of Thailand, where migrant workers recruited from poorer Asian countries work under terrible conditions. Last year, two huge pieces of investigative journalism told their stories and reminded us that it’s still happening, and consumers sued companies like Nestle and Costco for selling seafood produced under these conditions to unwitting customers. That means that this situation has been fixed, right? Not really, the U.S. Department of State tells us. [More]
Man Shoved 5 Bags Of Frozen Shrimp Down His Pants At Family Dollar
By 1.8.16
At Consumerist, we do our best to bring you the latest news about people stuffing meat, shellfish, or power tools down their pants. It’s only the second week of the year, and there’s already a second “crimes against meat” incident in the news. In Albany, Georgia, a man was caught on camera with three bags of frozen shrimp stuffed down his pants, and two in his back pockets. [More]
Thai Seafood Executive Calls Report On Slavery In Shrimping Industry “A Wake-Up Call”
By 12.15.15
After an in-depth report yesterday said that supermarkets around the world are selling shrimp peeled by enslaved workers, the head of one of the biggest companies in the seafood business is promising change, calling the report a “wake-up call” for the industry. [More]
Drug-Sniffing Dogs Find Shipping Container Full Of Cocaine-Stuffed Shrimp
By 6.25.15
We are fairly certain that cocaine-stuffed shrimp is not a Guyanese delicacy. That’s how 268 kilograms of cocaine arrived in a shipping container at a port in Brooklyn, though. Law enforcement followed the delivery to a warehouse in Queens and arrested a man in the seafood business, who claims that he had nothing to do with the shipment. [More]
That “Wild Gulf Shrimp” You Bought Might Actually Be Farmed Whiteleg Shrimp
By 10.30.14
Just because you spent an hour searching the grocery store for the perfect bag of Wild Gulf Shrimp doesn’t mean you’re actually getting wild shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico.. In fact a new study released Thursday found that nearly a third of the shrimp products being sold in U.S. stores and restaurants aren’t what they seem to be. [More]
Check Out These Exceptionally Large, Salmon-Colored Shrimp
By 6.18.13
Reader Griffin was shopping at Jewel when he discovered some exceptionally large and luscious shrimp. Which are also sort of salmon-colored. Hmm. [More]
Man Arrested At Winn-Dixie With Lobster, Shrimp, And Pork Down His Pants
By 9.8.11
If you’re going to shoplift two lobster tails, two bags of shrimp, and a pork loin from a grocery store, what’s the least obvious way to do so? Shove them in your shorts, of course. A MIssissippi man is accused of shoplifting after allegedly doing just that. [More]
Get Your Shrimp On At Taco Bell Until April 11
By 3.5.10
In a move bound to lure in a few Lent-observing Catholics and give those who keep Kosher another reason to stay away, Taco Bell goes live nationwide today with their new Pacific Shrimp Taco, available through April 11 and the first of three new menu items the fast feeder has in store for us. [More]
FDA: Glow In The Dark Shrimp "Not A Food Safety Issue"
By 11.3.07
Seattle shoppers want to know why the FDA won’t investigate bioluminescent shrimp appearing at local Thriftways and Quality Food Centers.
FDA Ban Fails To Catch 1 Million Pounds Of Chinese Seafood
By 8.8.07
1 million pounds of shrimp, eel, and catfish somehow slipped past the FDA’s ban on Chinese seafood. All seafood covered by the ban arrives at U.S. ports under an import alert, which ostensibly prevents the fish from leaving until private testing proves the absence of banned antibiotics and drugs. Chinese importers, resorting to tricks possibly gleaned from Wile E. Coyote, evade the FDA by shipping their contraband under the names and addresses of companies unaffected by the import alert. From the AP:
FDA Bans Import Of Chinese Seafood
By 6.29.07
The FDA is detaining all farm-raised catfish, basa, shrimp, dace, and eel from China over concerns that the fish may be on drugs. Tests since last October repeatedly revealed the presence nitrofuran, malachite green, and gentian violet – antibiotics that are not approved for human consumption in the United States. Though no general recall has been issued, the “FDA is concerned about long term exposure as well as the possible development of antibiotic resistance.” Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Wang Xinpei responded in classic form, saying:
