If you were to assume that you would be getting actual lobster in a “lobster roll”, you would be wrong…well, at least at 8 San Diego sushi joints.
Amazingly, the eight restaurants had been serving up cheaper fish in place of lobster for some time. The whole thing was uncovered by an investigation by the city attorney’s office and has led to misdemeanor convictions against eight San Diego sushi restaurants.
The restaurants were located in Carmel Mountain Ranch, El Cerrito, Hillcrest, North Park, Ocean Beach, Point Loma, Rancho Penasquitos and Tierrasanta.
Via The LA Times:
Investigators bought the rolls at a sampling of restaurants and then sent them to a laboratory for DNA testing. The results revealed that less-expensive seafood, including crawfish or pollock, had been substituted for lobster.
“Every single one that was tested was found to be false,” said Kathryn Turner, chief deputy of the city attorney’s consumer and environmental protection unit. Consumers are “paying for a premium product. They should be getting a premium product.”
The “truth in menu” investigation was conducted in August and September 2014, outside the trapping season for California spiny lobster, which runs from October through March. Follow-up inspections were conducted by the city’s investigator and state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“The investigators went to the restaurants and said, ‘Show us your lobster or your lobster invoices,'” Turner said. No lobster was found at any of the businesses in question.
The eight restaurant owners pleaded guilty to violating a state law that prohibits the mislabeling of food items. There was also a ninth restaurant that was guilty, – but it has since gone out of business.
The defendants paid a combined $14,000 in fines and more than $5,000 to reimburse investigative costs. They also have changed their menus and advertising to reflect the real menu.
