Sorry, But Your Favorite Sushi Is Probably Fake
While the pre-packaged meals you buy at your local bodega might be a bit sketchy, you know that when you go out to a nice restaurant you’re finally getting a fresh and delicious meal, right? Wrong.
In fact, I have really bad news for all you sushi-loving betches and everyone who orders fancy steak to treat themselves on a night out — you’re probably not eating what you’re paying for, or what it says on the menu.
In Larry Olmstead’s new book, “Real Food Fake Food,” he highlights the corruption and fucked up shit that goes on in the US food industry. This isn’t totally news, as we all knew that when you buy a burger at McDonald’s you’re getting some nasty ass shit, but what about when you’re ordering a $50 prime rib or spending hundreds of dollars on fancy rolls at your fave sushi spot?
Olmstead says that the seafood industry, particularly sushi, and the beef industry are the most corrupt out of all the fake food scams going on, which are highlighted in this NY Post article.
Apparently unless you’re eating at Masa or Nobu, you’re not getting what you’re ordering and/or paying for, which might explain why Drake and Future love Nobu so much.
Olmstead says that your salmon, red snapper, and white tuna are totally fake. Specifically white tuna, which is replaced with escolar aka the “Ex-Lax fish” to experts. Escolar fish is banned in Japan, but has remained legal in the US because of our profit dominated society (go figure, right?). If you had to run to the bathroom last time you and bae went out for sushi, now you know why.
According to Olmstead, multiple recent studies “put the chances of your getting the white tuna you ordered in the typical New York sushi restaurant at zero — as in never.”
As for your fancy grass-fed steak? According to Olmstead all that “grass fed” means is that the cow was fed grass instead of corn, not that it was raised naturally. The cows “can still be raised in an industrial feed lot and given drugs,” says Olmstead.
So what’s a protein-loving foodie to do? Olmstead reccomends shopping at a farmer’s market. Or, if you’re in NYC, buying your meat from Eli’s or Citarella.
For seafood, Olmstead says to search for the “Alaska Seafood: Wild, Natural, Sustainable” logo on what you’re buying.
The good news? Along with Whole Foods, the other stores that are extremely strict with their food standards are Costco, Trader Joe’s, BJs, and Walmart. At least you don’t have to go broke trying to stop eating scammed shit. In fact, maybe you’ll save money by stopping your weekly habit of ordering in sushi now that you know what you’re really getting?
