A recent study by researchers from Columbia University and the American Museum of Natural History found that the tuna offered at many sushi restaurants ain't exactly tuna. They ordered 68 samples of tuna sushi from 31 restaurants in Manhattan and Denver, Colorado. The result:
Nineteen restaurant establishments were unable to clarify or misrepresented what species they sold. Five out of nine samples sold as a variant of “white tuna” were not albacore (T. alalunga), but escolar (Lepidocybium flavorunneum), a gempylid species banned for sale in Italy and Japan due to health concerns. Nineteen samples were northern bluefin tuna (T. thynnus) or the critically endangered southern bluefin tuna (T. maccoyii), though nine restaurants that sold these species did not state these species on their menus.
Ah, tuna, the mystery meat of sushi.
O, and in case you're wondering consuming escolar can result in "...stomach cramps, loose bowel movements, diarrhea, headaches, nausea, and vomiting."
[Via]