Let me introduce you to the nemesis in France that should never ever come in close proximity to your mouth: any fish from warm waters. Some advice. Stay away from it!
I’ll explain.
A friend of ours I’ll call Nemo (not his real name), who works as a quality assurance agent for a very large chain of hypermarkets* in France told us something that compelled me to share with everyone, specifically to expats shopping for fish in any hypermarché in France. This warning applies to everyone as well of course, but honestly, I don’t worry as much about the French, only because I feel that they have much more resistance to food poisoning. Really. It must have something to do with growing up eating camembert.
Anyway, we never buy fish in these large markets but I know many people do. So, here’s the warning: Don’t buy fish coming from bodies of water that are warm, those fish being primarily from Asia. Stores usually indicate where the fish is from originally so you can get an idea about the quality of fish and its edibility (or poison-ability).
Nemo tells us that when he tests fish, he applies a substance on the fish and if there’s evidence of bacteria or other contamination, a black dot will appear. A fish is deemed OK for eating if there are no more than about 6 dots. He finds that fish from warm waters are so laden with bacteria that they are completely covered in black after testing. Clearly, these fish are not fit for consumption, but the hypermarket, being the greedy, exploiting, unethical, evil SOBs that they are, ignored our friend’s recommendation to dispose of this inedible fish. They chose to sell all of the contaminated fish to unsuspecting consumers.
Needless to say, there’s a LOT of contaminated fish out there! Nemo is disgusted and is in search of a new job.
The positive part of this whole thing is that Nemo tells us the fish from the North Atlantic or any cold body of water, generally produces relatively fresh fish, much safer to eat.
* Take your guess at which hypermarché, however, chances are that they all share similar philosophies about “quality assurance” and the bottom line.
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The problem is not only with the fish. Meat in hypermarchés is as bad, not because it comes from who knows where, but beacuse usually, when the meat is not fresh anymore, they cut the exterior, take the inside that looks like normal meat, put it in a new package with a new date and sell it with the rest. And when it’s really bad, they just make sausages (if I believe that report on TV I saw a few months ago).
Comment by Ewj 08.03.07 @ 4:29 pmBEURK!
At the very least you could give us the first letter of the name of the store!
Does it start with a “C” or an “L” ?
Comment by MadameK 08.04.07 @ 5:33 amCould also be a “A” or a “G”..
They’re all have the same “ethics” anyway.
Comment by Calimero 08.05.07 @ 1:22 amMy children and I are traveling to Brittany in a few weeks. We’ll be shopping and cooking. What is a supermarche, and do you have any more advice?
Comment by Heather 05.21.08 @ 11:17 pmHi, I live in Penang, Malaysia. Yes, we can get fish fillets called “Dori” at a very “reasonable” price at most supermarkets. I wonder if they are the same type that should not be consumed? Regards, William
Comment by William Chong 07.28.08 @ 6:59 pmEeeek. . .
Is Tilapia a warm-water fish? We don’t recall seeing it until the past few months and love it!! We tried it at a restaurant where it sells for about $12.95 per meal, but at the grocery in the frozen dept it is very cheap. I shudder to think that it might be this fish by another name - Sutchi, Panang or whatever. If you know - pls email me!! Thx!! gingerinvegas@hotmail.com
OMG!…there are 2 packs of the fillet!
Brand:Sutchi Fillet
by Island Fish
packed by:gst-group
They even have info on the amount of Omega 3 composition.
R these the ones ? pls let me know .Thanks
Tilapia are warm-water fish. In Malaysia, we called them “African” fish. Yes, they are from Africa. They are fast growing and can survive very well in any fresh water bodies - lake, dam, river, pond or even aquarium. They eat almost anything. There are two types of Tilapia - one is dark and the other light pink in color. Cheap and quite delicious. Most Tilapia from Malaysia are farmed in lakes and aquaculture ponds…and I think they are not so bad as compare to the Pangas fish of Vietnam. Personally i like Tilapia in fried in oil with black sauce.
Comment by Forest 09.28.08 @ 7:33 pmTilapia is definitely a safe fish to eat. Iron Chef America woudn’t have used this fish as their PRIMARY INGREDIENT (in one of their shows) if this fish isn’t safe for human consumption
Comment by maddy hayes 10.21.08 @ 3:21 amHas anyone seen “dirty jobs by Mike Rowe”? In one of the episodes,it was shown that Striped Bass was farmed in Mugabe Desert. The waste water from the tanks were drained into holding tanks where Tilapia fish and another fish species to feed on the waste water Then all this fish were farmed to be sold to markets. All this happened in USA ! It was said that all the fish was safe for consumption. That needs some figuring right? Well one thing is for sure…I ain’t eating farmed fish…!
Comment by bigbird 10.21.08 @ 11:29 amLeave a comment
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that is scary! :0
Comment by Kat 08.03.07 @ 8:22 am