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Here in the Tampa Bay area, we have a local fish called a grouper (part of the sea bass family) that is a menu favorite. Trouble is, lots of time people pay premium prices for grouper, but what they are eating is not grouper at all -- in some cases it is catfish or some imported frozen stuff.

How do we know this? And how widespread is the practice of substituting one fish for another without telling the customer?

The St. Petersburg Times went to 11 local restaurants and bought what was billed as "grouper" on the menus. In six of the cases, reporters were served some cheaper fish instead. The restaurants had all sorts of lame excuses for the mix-ups or substitutions.

In December of 2004, I told you about a KARE-11 (Minneapolis) story that found cheaper fish being substituted for walleye, the local favorite in Minnesota.

How big is this in the United States? Very big, if you read a report from the National Marine Fisheries Service National Seafood Inspection Laboratory [PDF], which found that 80 percent of all red snappers were mislabeled between 1988 and 1997. And that's just the beginning.

...The National Seafood Inspection Laboratory (NSIL) routinely examines seafood products for species substitution utilizing the AOAC Official Method 980.16. Over a nine-year period, fiscal years [1988 through 1997], the NSIL's samples showed that 37 percent of the fish and 13 percent of other seafoods were mislabeled. Overall 34 percent of the seafood products that the NSIL tested during this time were mislabeled. The NSIL is also conducting a market survey by collecting samples from various randomly selected vendors. At present, 80 percent of the red snappers tested have been mislabeled.

The August Consumer Reports says one of the biggest rip-offs is the sale of "wild salmon," which is really farm-raised fish:

If you've paid extra for fresh wild salmon in late fall and winter, you may have wasted your money.

Of 23 supposedly "wild" salmon fillets we bought last November, December, and March, during the off-season for wild-caught salmon, our analysis found only 10 that were definitely caught in the wild. The rest came from salmon farms.

Why does it matter? Is one healthier for you than another? Consumer Reports said:

Although farmed salmon isn't inherently less healthful, it is what it eats: typically concentrated fish meal and fish oil. And all too often, the fish that go into this feed have lived in polluted waters.

In a study published in the Jan. 9, 2004, issue of Science, researchers reported their analysis of more than 700 samples of farmed and wild salmon obtained from around the world. Farmed had far more dioxins and PCBs than wild. The most-contaminated fish came from Europe; farmed salmon from North and South America were somewhat cleaner but still not as clean as wild salmon.

In 2004, CBS News reported:

"We thought we might find a few mislabeled fish, but we had no idea we would find so many mislabeled," says Peter Marko, a researcher at the University of North Carolina.

Three-quarters of the samples sold as red snapper turned out to be something else. Related species, yes, but not the highly-prized -- and highly-priced -- red snapper

Bob Spaeth, a fish wholesaler in Madeira Beach, Fla., says he wasn't surprised by the findings of the report.

"I've been in the business too long," says Spaeth.

He says substitute snapper is only the start, since unscrupulous dealers can fake pretty much any fish people want to buy.

Spaeth says he's not sure at what level the mislabeling is happening.

"It goes on behind closed doors," he says. "What they do is, they change the package and they don't put any name on it."

But consumers aren't the only ones being ripped off by mislabeling. The practice is driving down the entire pricing structure and threatens an already struggling industry.

It's a matter of the bottom line. While a fish at the dock nets about $2.50, look-alike fish from foreign fleets and farms are often available at a fraction of the cost.

"You'll have imports that come in and flood the market at a cheaper price, and if a fish dealer can get a cheaper price he'll pay less to the domestic fisherman," says commercial fishing captain Eric Schmidt.

It's the Food and Drug Administration's job to protect against mislabeling. But the agency says in the post-Sept 11 world, it's not a high priority.  

Oil Pipeline Interruption

Yesterday, America lost about 8 percent of its daily crude production (about 2.6 percent of supply) when BP discovered the pipeline corrosion in the system that moves oil from the nation's biggest oil field,  BP's Prudhoe Bay facilities in Alaska. You will pay the price, no doubt about it. Monday, oil futures prices closed sharply higher than usual. The immediate price increases will probably mean about a dime more at the pump.  

There are some estimates that oil prices could rise as much as $10 per barrel as a result.

BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. reports that it "operates 13 North Slope oil fields, four North Slope pipelines and owns a significant interest in six other producing fields." The company has a little more than a one-fourth interest in the Prudhoe Bay natural gas resource, as well.

This all follows a quarter-million-gallon oil spill in March, which prompted the feds to ask for a thorough end-to-end inspection of the Prudhoe Bay pipelines.

See Anchorage's KTUU-TV coverage.

Prudhoe Bay is on the north border of Alaska. By some estimates, there is about 10 more years' worth of oil, about 3 billion barrels left there to pump.

Resource page from Answers.com.  

Kids and Shopping Carts

The American Academy of Pediatrics says shopping carts are way more dangerous than you probably think. The organization released a study this week that says shopping carts were involved in injuries to more than 24,000 children last year, mostly when a child fell out or a cart tipped over. The study says:

In 2005, more than 24,000 children were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms for shopping cart-related injuries. Most of these injuries occurred when a child fell from a shopping cart, the cart tipped over, the child became entrapped in the cart or the child fell while riding on the outside of the cart, according to the new policy statement, "Shopping Cart-Related Injuries to Children." [PDF] Injuries to the head and neck accounted for 74 percent of shopping cart-related injuries among children younger than 15. Of the 4 percent of children treated in an emergency room for a shopping cart injury, more than 93 percent were under age 5.

With the potential instability of some existing shopping cart designs, and because it is difficult for a parent to easily ascertain a cart's safety simply by looking at it, parents should carefully consider the potential for injury before placing a child in a shopping cart, according to the policy. Instead of putting children in shopping carts, parents can try one of the following alternatives:

• Get another adult to come with them to watch the children while shopping.
• Put children in strollers, wagons, or frontpacks instead of in shopping carts.
• Ask older children to walk and praise them for behaving and staying nearby.
• Leave children at home with another adult.
• Shop online if local stores offer shopping on the Internet.

If a parent chooses to place a child in a shopping cart, he or she should ensure that the child is properly secured in an effective and age- and size-appropriate belt or harness. Parents and caregivers should never:

• Leave a child alone in a shopping cart.
• Allow a child to stand-up in a shopping cart.
• Place an infant carrier on top of the shopping cart.
• Allow a child to ride in the basket.
• Allow a child to ride on the outside of a cart.
• Allow an older child to climb on the cart or push the cart with another child inside.

A few more facts (from the PDF of the study):

• The most common anatomic site of injury is the head and neck region, accounting for 74 percent of shopping cart–related injuries among children younger than 15 years, 79 percent among children younger than 5 years and 92 percent among children younger than 1 year. Approximately 4 percent of children younger than 15 years treated in an emergency department for a shopping cart–related injury require admission to the hospital.
• Children younger than 5 years account for 93 percent of these hospital admissions.
• Fractures are the most common injury resulting in admission, representing 45% of all hospitalizations.
• Deaths have been reported from falls from shopping carts and cart tip-overs.

The pediatricians say several things might help. One is, of course, for parents to be more aware of how dangerous it can be to put an unrestrained kid into a shopping cart. The doctors also suggest supervised play areas in stores so kids won't be riding around in the carts. Maybe stores could offer more help getting purchases to the customer's car. The study says there may be a need for modifications to carts to make them more stable.

Stores might also consider giving little rewards, such as stickers, to children who are wearing their restraints when they roll through the checkout counter.

Two Hours of Slacking Per Day

According to a new survey by America Online and Salary.com:

The average worker admits to frittering away 2.09 hours per eight-hour workday, not including lunch and scheduled break time. As a matter of practice, companies assume a certain amount of wasted time when determining employee pay. However, the America Online/Salary.com survey indicates that employees are wasting about twice as much time as their employers expect. Salary.com calculated that employers spend $759 billion per year on salaries for which real work was expected, but not actually performed.

Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.