In the aftermath of a recent controversy surrounding the mislabeling of seafood by a prominent Mississippi Gulf Coast restaurant and wholesaler, lawmakers are looking to ensure transparency when one dines in a region of the state touted for its decorated food scene.
On Monday, House Bill 602 cruised through its legislative chamber without a single dissenting vote. The bill, authored by Rep. Brent Anderson, R-Gulfport, expands an existing state law requiring restaurants and others selling certain seafood items to advertise the food’s country of origin.
Current law mandates processors, wholesalers, and food service establishments to transparently inform consumers whether the shrimp and crawfish being sold are local or from a foreign body of water. The updated text, which still needs Senate approval before heading to Gov. Tate Reeves’ desk, requires the country of origin of all seafood items to be advertised on menus, labels, etc. “clearly and prominently.”
This comes after Biloxi eatery Mary Mahoney’s Old French House and its co-owner, Anthony Cvitanovich, were sentenced for importing approximately 58,750 pounds of frozen, foreign fish species that were sold as local, premium species between December 2013 and November 2019. Mary Mahoney’s supplier, Quality Poultry and Seafood Inc. — the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s largest seafood distributor — and two of its managers, were subsequently handed a scathing sentence from Lady Justice for being the ring leaders in the scheme to purposely mislead consumers.
While on the surface, the judicial process playing out appeared to be a big win for transparency, but a startling investigation found that mislabeling imported seafood as locally caught product is the norm, rather than the exception. SeaD Consulting, a firm specializing in genetic testing to monitor mislabeling and substitution fraud in the seafood industry, tested food from 44 coastal restaurants. In the assessment, it was discovered that only eight, or 18%, of the eateries examined were properly advertising what they were selling.
“What we’re trying to do is protect consumers as well as tourists in the state of Mississippi to know exactly what you’re purchasing when you purchase it from a wholesaler, retailer, seafood market, or restaurant — that you know what you’re getting and what country it’s coming from,” Anderson said.
If HB 602 is enacted into law, there will be a tiered penalty structure with the first offense for not adequately advertising seafood items’ native country resulting in a $500 fine. The fine can escalate up to $10,000 for subsequent infractions. Mississippi’s Department of Agriculture and Commerce and Department of Marine Resources will have joint authority over enforcement of the new regulations.
The bill now heads to the other side of the capitol, where similar legislation died in committee last week. If passed into law, the provisions in the legislation will go into effect on July 1.
