An Aldi shopper is going viral on TikTok after pointing out something she noticed on the label of the store’s frozen fish.
Megan Whitfield (@meganwhitfield241) said she was out shopping when she noticed the tag. Essentially, Whitfield said she discovered that Fremont brand’s “wild caught” products contain fish that was caught in Alaska, but later processed in China.
“Their fish is wild caught in Alaska, but a processed/product of China,” Whitfield noted as she panned over the bags of frozen seafood. “Why would you catch it in the U.S. and send it to China for processing? Make it make sense.” As of Thursday, her video documenting her find had amassed more than 220,700 views.
Is this common for frozen fish?
In Whitfield’s video, she called out the Fremont-brand’s Alaskan Cod, but that’s not the only product that’s processed and is a product of China.
In a food review of a second Fremont product (its Wild Caught Flounder), another customer noted that they were similarly disappointed by this find.
“I did not read the label until after I’d purchased and cooked it. Would I have bought it if I’d noticed the country of origin? Probably not,” they wrote. “It never occurred to me that Aldi was sourcing fish from China. I guess I’d better start checking every product before buying!”
But this is not uncommon.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, much of the seafood sold in the states is processed elsewhere. It noted that the processing in question entails fileting and packaging the fish into the cuts you’ll see sold at most grocery stores.
“An example of this would be when a wild cod is caught off the coast of Alaska and, due to economic factors, is shipped to another country to be fabricated into filets and packaged,” the site read. “If this process of turning a whole fish into packaged filets occurs in China, the cod filets are declared ‘Wild Caught Product of China’ upon import into the United States.”
According to USA Today, more than 80% of the seafood consumed by Americans is imported. And it’s not just the fish sold in grocery stores. Some estimates say that about half of the fish sticks sold in public schools are processed in China, too.
Regardless of its sourcing, though, the food reviewer gave the product stellar reviews. He said that the flounder had a “lovely” texture and “mellow” flavor.
China’s seafood processing plants get exposed
According to an extensive report by the Outlaw Project, certain workers (specifically, North Koreans and Uyghurs) are forced to work at these processing plants. Videos posted by workers showed that many live in military-style dormitories under the watch of security guards.
In a subsequent interview with PBS, the author of the piece said that he found evidence of “forced labor and trafficked labor.”
But that hasn’t stopped the U.S. from buying this food. In fact, America is among the largest institutional buyers of this food. It purchased more than $400 million-worth in 2022, the report noted.
Viewers question cost of overseas processing
In the comments section of Whitfield’s video, a number of viewers suggested that store-bought fish is processed overseas because it’s cheaper to do so.
“Labor is cheaper and they also have more high capacity processing facilities so even with transportation costs it’s still less expensive than processing domestically,” one user explained.
“Welcome to econ 101,” another quipped. “Labor in the us is expensive. That $11 would jump to $15-18 if processed here.”
“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s cheaper,” a third viewer confirmed. “Also Aldi is a German company. Why would they care if it was processed in China vs the USA?”
Even so, a handful of TikTok users questioned whether this type of seafood would remain inexpensive under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. The president-elect has pledged to impose higher tariffs on China, which would likely impact trade between the two nations.
“And after tariffs start, it’ll be $20 instead of $12,” one viewer said.
“And once the tariffs hit it will be $18.99,” another added.
“Wont be cheaper in 7 months,” a third user wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Whitfield via TikTok comment and to Aldi by email.
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