TikToker Kat Mccue (@katmeowcue) has developed an online following sharing tips and tricks on how to spot “seafood fraud.”
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seafood Fraud can be everything from incorrect labeling or lack of information, “to blatant deception to increase profits and attempts to launder illegally harvested seafood.”
Mccue helps viewers spot such fraud, and previously, the Daily Dot reported on her identifying seafood fraud while ordering fish at a restaurant.
Now she’s aiding viewers in how to avoid seafood fraud at grocery stores. In her latest viral video, she demonstrates how to spot mislabeled salmon. In the video, she shares a photo of a packaged salmon labeled, “Fresh Wild Copper River Sockeye Salmon from Central Alaska.”
She instructs viewers to notice the appearance of the fish. The salmon in the video is a pale pink, with thick white lines running horizontally along its surface.
Her first concern is the lines on the fish. “Sockeye will never have any flat lines on it,” she explains. “It’s a very very lean fish,” she continues.
Mccue also raises issues with the salmon’s pale pink color. “Generally [Sockeye] filets are also super, super red, so anytime you see a jewel toner filet of fish, it is probably sockeye. It will pretty much never be this color,” she states.
She notes, “What you need to look for is fat lines, and if it says it’s sockeye, it means the store doesn’t know what it is selling or it is misrepresenting what it is selling.”
“Also, Copper River season is in the springtime, so … this fresh sticker doesn’t really mean anything,” she continues. “This is not freshly caught. It was likely frozen and then thawed for display. It’s all lies.”
@katmeowcue #CapCut #fishfraud #seafoodfraud #wildsalmon #farmedsalmon #sockeyesalmon #copperriver #consumerprotection ♬ original sound – Kat
Her viral video has over 419,000 views and hundreds of comments. Many viewers expressed gratitude for her information and how they plan to employ it when shopping themselves.
“Yes! Thank you for speaking the truth! Drives me crazy when I’m served red salmon and I can 100% tell it’s not red!” one viewer commented. Another added, “I’m learning so much from your videos! Thank you!”
The Daily Dot reached out to Kat Mccue via TikTok comment.
