The state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure has scheduled a public hearing on Wednesday to address fish mislabeling in Massachusetts.
The committee has been meeting with representatives of the fish industry and federal and state regulatory agency officials following a Globe report in October that revealed extensive seafood misrepresentation at area restaurants, and scant government oversight.
The five-month investigation found that Massachusetts consumers routinely and unwittingly overpay for less valued fish or buy seafood that is different from what is advertised. The newspaper hired a lab in Canada to conduct DNA tests on fish that reporters purchased across the region. The results showed that 48 percent, or 87 of the 183 seafood samples, were sold with the wrong species name. Such misnaming can put consumers at risk of suffering allergic reactions, violating dietary restrictions, or ingesting chemicals banned in the United States.
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