Mislabeling
Escolar can be mislabeled in both restaurants and at fish markets. In 2009, as part of a project to create a DNA database of every fish species, scientists from Columbia University and the American Museum of Natural History tested tuna samples from sushi restaurants in New York City and Denver, Colorado. They discovered five of nine restaurants serving fish labeled “white tuna,” “white tuna (albacore)” or “super white tuna” were actually serving escolar.
Escolar has been mislabeled or otherwise confused with the following fish: Atlantic cod, oilfish (related to escolar but in a different genus), rudderfish, blue cod, black cod, king tuna, grouper, orange roughy, sea bass, gemfish, Chilean sea bass, albacore tuna, and white tuna.
Escolar is also known as butterfish (incorrectly), Hawaiian butterfish, walu/waloo, ono or super white tuna.
This mislabeling, whether by ignorance or deceit, is more hazardous than other fish mislabeling due to the potential health effects of escolar. Some other risks can result from seafood species substitution, as well.
Read more about this topic: Escolar