Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has ordered two restaurants in the northwestern state to cease mislabeling fish in sushi and pay costs and fees associated with uncovering the deceptive menu practices. The announcement came after an investigation by the Consumer Protection Division uncovered evidence that the eateries incorrectly labeled fish used in sushi served between March and August of 2016.
Assurances filed in King County Superior Court require both businesses to accurately disclose the species of fish sold to consumers and pay costs and fees.
“Consumers deserve to know the truth about what they are buying,” Ferguson said. “If you mislead consumers, my office will hold you accountable.”
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maintains a database of fish species names, known as The Seafood List, which specifies all acceptable market names for fish species. In these cases, unacceptable market names were used in labeling fish.
On multiple occasions, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) purchased sushi at Sushi Tokyo of Seattle and Oto Sushi of Redmond. The restaurants menued and sold the fish as raw salmon, tuna and snapper. The AGO sent samples to a food-testing laboratory to verify whether the types of fish were properly labeled.
Results proved that the restaurants labeled their sushi as “white tuna” or albacore when it was actually escolar. Additionally, Sushi Tokyo mislabeled tilapia as “Tai red snapper.” AGO investigators determined that the restaurants had purchased correctly named fish but changed the names on their menus.
In addition to agreeing to discontinue deceptive practices, the two businesses must pay the Attorney General’s Office’s costs and fees in the cases: $4,000 for Sushi Tokyo and $1,500 for Oto Sushi.
The Attorney General’s Office initiated its investigation following a study from non-profit Oceana concerning the mislabeling of fish in sushi. Assistant Attorney General Joel Delman was lead attorney in these cases.
