Misleading labeling at the grocery store

[BadRabbit]

I was at my local Publix last night and noticed they had "Dry Pack" scallops for $16/lb. I then looked behind the sign to see U-10 scallops that were obviously sitting in an inch of sodium tripolyphosphate bath. I informed the guy behind the counter and he argued that these were indeed dry scallops.

I was in a hurry and didn't have time to speak to the seafood manager and I'm wondering whether I should even bother calling back about it. It's obviously misleading labeling but I also imagine that anybody that knows enough to ask for "dry pack" probably knows what the milky liquid is.

At a different store, I recently saw something labeled as black grouper that was obviously not. It actually looked more like catfish than it did grouper.

What do you do when you see things that are obviously labeled incorrectly?

Do you just inform the manager? What if you see them doing it again at a later date? Do you call the authorities?

[ElsieD]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/science/earth/27fish.html

This is interesting.

[BadRabbit]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/science/earth/27fish.html

This is interesting.

I read that when it was first published and my first impression was that nearly everybody involved in selling the mislabeled products must be being dishonest. I refuse to believe that people who deal in fish everyday could be tricked into thinking tilapia was snapper (I ran an oyster bar for a long time and have dealt with fish buying at nearly every level from boat to plate).

I'm sure there are a few restaurant owners that are clueless but I doubt seriously there are distributors that are truly being tricked. They see the fact that the product was originally sold to them under false pretences as plausible deniability and decide just to go with the flow and make extra money doing so.

Edited: grammar

Edited February 29, 2012 by BadRabbit (log)