U.S. BlueCat or Tiawan Swai

After hearing that the catfish sold to me at a local catfish resturant as farm raised catfish is actually swai catfish from overseas. I decided to look into if it is legal to sell without notifing customers and it seems that it is. I also searched for any news that people are being duped into eating forrign catfish and there is not much recently so i thought i might get some views from ats.

Givin that the majority of dining establishments have made their name by serving u.s. farm raised catfish and have not let patroons know that they have started switching to a cheaper version do you think that as consumers we should be told of the orgin of our meal since the majority of consumers to southern fried fish places assume it is from the U.S. What say you?

You shouldn't make assumptions regarding you're food these days, in a restaurant or supermarket. Most of the walleye you're going to get is actually Pollock. Some of it is wild from Alaska, but a lot of it is from China. The Swai btw, often contains a chemical to help retain moisture in cooking, but keeps the flesh looking pink no matter how much you cook it. Diners claim that it's not done, even though it was temped at 180F + before it went to the table! Swai is low quality for sure, but the filets are huge and the price is low, and that's what the average American diner demands.

Swai is a catfish. It is a little milder flavor than the channel cats that are commonly farmed in the U.S. and can have a bit of a muddy flavor. If it matters to you whether or not the fish is imported, I'm sure you can ask your server to find out. It should be labeled on the packaging where the fish is from.

i never made the claim that swai was not a catfish but that several catfish chain have now switched to it. Seems that everyone is ok with americans losing jobs and people are being duped into eating it in places they previously came to in order to support us markets. I guess not every item we eat at every meal we have to inquire orgin because it is too much to ask now for truth in labeling and advertisment. The bottom line is that the majority of consumers at these places would not eat if they knew what just happened at catfish cabin and other places. It would be like car manufactures not using brands any more. Much the same happens with gmo's. If any knew the spiritual implications then they would not go along. Many states have laws that one must label menus accordingly and i feel the u.s. would benefit if this were to voted on again.

My concern with imported foods is that because they are produced outside our boarders, and not necessarily subject to USDA standards. Livestock and seafood may be pumped full of antibiotics and hormones. Produce may be treated with unapproved or excessively high levels of pesticides. Not to say that domestically sourced food is perfect by any means, but much more of the domestic supply is monitored in production, inspected in processing and tested for contamination. So much of our produce comes from Mexico and Chile, beef from Argentina and Brazil, seafood from China, Thailand and Vietnam. It's easier to know the origins of your food when you can see the packaging, but at restaurants, it's much more difficult. Even if they did have to disclose sourcing, it doesn't necessarily tell you anything specific regarding the circumstances in which the item was produced or processed. That's just the gamble we have to take to enjoy the foods we want all year long.