CTV News Montreal

Updated: Thu Nov. 05 2009 5:44:59 PM

ctvmontreal.ca

Artful, healthy and delicious, sushi in Montreal has transformed itself from traditional Japanese delicacy to a fast-food treat in a matter of years.

White rice, a few pieces of raw fish, some soy sauce - the results are mouthwatering, and many Montrealers are willing to pay a premium to enjoy them. But are restaurants using a bait and switch?

CTV Montreal decided to find out.

After gathering 48 samples of fish - three samples each from 16 restaurants - they were sent to a laboratory in Guelph, Ont, to be tested.

The samples were randomly selected: Restaurants ranged from fast-food eateries to upscale establishments throughout the city and at each, we selected a variety of products from their menu.

The test was accurate: A team of scientists from the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph used a revolutionary method of DNA barcode sequencing to determine the precise species of fish, a tool both identifying known species and discovering new ones.

The results were astounding.

Of the 48 samples tested, 20 were mislabelled and 5 were undetermined, meaning at least 45 per cent of the fish was not what customers were paying for. Fourteen of the 16 restaurants mislabeled at least one of the products they sold us.

"Their sequences are radically divergent. They're not even close," said Robert Hanner, associate director of the Canadian Barcode of Life Network at the Biodiversity Institute.

Yellowfin tuna was replaced with less expensive blackfin tuna. Flying fish caviar was substituted with a cheaper capelin roe.

But the biggest culprit? Red snapper. Of the 12 samples we tested, every one of them was, in fact, one of the cheapest fish available: Tilapia.

CTV returned to some of the restaurants to demand some answers.

One sushi chef who preferred not to be named claimed that in certain parts of Japan, tilapia was interchangeable with red snapper.

"Tilapia is different in different states. They have different colours and tastes," he said, adding that he thought red snapper was a type of tilapia.

The difference, however, is vast.

Fished from the wild, usually in the Gulf of Mexico, red snapper sells for about $12 per kilogram in Montreal.

Tilapia is mostly farmed, and costs just $2 per kilogram.

Beyond the price difference, local fishmongers say the quality of tilapia simply isn't fit for sushi.

Sushi restaurant owner Soly Vaar readily admitted to substituting tilapia for red snapper, claiming it's less expensive and has a longer shelf life. They receive their tilapia in frozen, vacuum-sealed packages.

"For the tilapia, it's almost the same fish. It's the same taste and everything, and we can keep longer. And we receive everything already in the bags," said Vaar.

"It's almost all the Japanese restaurants in Montreal that use tilapia," he said.

Montreal's food inspection department says advertising one product and selling another is against provincial law.

"It is not acceptable that misleading information is given the customer," said Myrto Mantzavrakos of the Montreal Food Inspection Division.

Still, Matzavrakos admits that because of a lack of resources, city inspectors tend to focus only on violations that could harm consumers, and eating raw tilapia isn't dangerous.

In the end, it's up to restaurant owners to decide if this is ethical business - and it's up to consumers to sniff out a raw deal.

Comments are now closed for this story

Bertrand Dugay
sushi is the best , THIS GUY DOESNT KNOW WHAT HES SAYIN , HES FULL OF LIESS!!!

Liette
Thanks for the report,I for one will be asking more question next time I get sushi.

Zappy
I dont think he is full of lies. If you saw the vedio at lunch it looks like he DOES eat sushi cause he knew what was what lol. And they not saying shushi is allk bad. Just saying becarefull what you order and be sure when you order red snapper, its red snapper your getting lmao as well as when u are getting shrimp shushi and ect, ect. beware you buying what you want is all they saying.

Jack
Who knows what other garbage they are using in sushi.

Big Papa
I used to consume sushi and rare steaks, but no longer since anything that is not fully cooked is potentially hazardous to your health.

This has just given me another reason not to go back.

I am willing to forgo the pleasure and experience in order not to get sick!

Small price to pay.

John Brossard
Wow. That was a helpful comment, Betrand. Who is "this guy" and what are the lies? Also, having worked in restaurants for a few years, and knowing the owners of one of the sushi chains in the city, this report is true, if not obvious.

JS
seriously, do you people have nothing else to talk about ? the bad economy is already affecting these businesses enough don't you think ? do they need some irrelevant report to come ruin their reputation ? Do you realize how this subject is not pertinent at all ? Waste of time and space.

James
So, because of
"tough times" businesses should be exempted after caught lying to their customers. Is this the point you're actually trying to make?

don don
dear js how would you like to go to a nice steak house and order an expensive meat like kobe beef worth around $150 and receive the less expensive filet mignon worth around $35-$40 it's called a scam and i for one am glad for the eye opening report thank you verry much!!!

Jay
Kobe downgraded to filet mignon is being generous don don, it's more like kobe to a brisket! Maybe next they can check the quality of rice and nori!

lulu
JS, are you one of the owners of the sushi restaurants that were exploited??? I think you are, lmao

suhn
If I want cheap knock off fish to eat as sushi I'll got to the mall. At a sushi restaurant I EXPECT to be served good quality,fresh fish. Having a sushi roll on a menu named after the fish means it SHOULD have that exact fish in the roll. This is such a SCAM that's like ordering Lobster a getting scampies."talapia sashimi" does not sound like a delicacy.

Michael Sniatowsky, Mtl.
Bravo Paul Karwatsky & CTV for this informative exposé! We at Kaizen Sushi Bar & Restaurant have proudly, for the past fifteen years, persevered in offering a true & honest Sushi experience without cutting corners. Our Executive Chef Antonio Park is up daily at the crack of dawn sourcing the freshest seafood treasures that the season allows, both by telephone with our suppliers in many different cities & countries as well as in person at our local fishmongers in Montreal. Kaizen will only offer a product if it is truly worthy by its own merit (freshness & quality) & nature to be judged fit for our patron’s consumption. We never purchase packaged filleted fish; we only buy the entire fish, as it only possible to be able to properly judge the true quality in this format. Should a certain product not be judged suitable nor available it would simply not be offered. Kaizen has always offered the most competitive salaries in our industry for our team of Chefs who have earned their just remuneration by the skills they have honed thru proper training and discipline of their art. We have been cited for our pricing by the uninformed in the past and have always replied with a “comparison of apples& oranges” explanation. We will now employ CTV’s freshly coined expression, (it is impossible to compare tilapia & red snapper). Thanks for the exposé as more of this style and quality of journalism is needed to weed out the imitators.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Kaizen Sushi Bar & Restaurant was not tested in this study and therefore the information above has not been verified)

Yves Marineau
I'm very sad to see all those fake sushi restaurant destroying the reputation of Japanaese restaurant. As I know Japanese are very honnest but 90% of sushi restaurant are not japanese owned. So those 90% are destroying the reputaion of all japanese owned restaurant.

It would be interesting to have the journalist to ask to a real japanese owned sushi restaurant if it is true if the japanese are changing the fish in Japan for Tilapia?

a Japanese' perspective
Just to clarify the issue, the news is half true, half misleading. The Asian people who appeared on the news were not Japanese. Most of those so-called sushi restaurants in Montreal are Chinese-owned or Korean-owned. They don't even prepare rice properly, so after one bite of any kind of their "sushi", I can tell that it is so fake. (Some of them taste good enough for quick lunch, but they shouldn't be called sushi.)

They have their restaurants, and it's not because they love sushi or proud of the country of Japan since they are not Japanese. They just want to make money, so I guess they don't care if they offer a real deal or not.

FYI: If you'd like to eat acceptable sushi in Montreal, you need to go to an expensive Japanese-owned restaurant and pay $50 a dish. If you'd like good or excellent sushi, go to Japan.

a Japanese' perspective
Just to clarify the issue, the news is half true, half misleading. The Asian people who appeared on the news were not Japanese. Most of those so-called sushi restaurants in Montreal are Chinese-owned or Korean-owned. They don't even prepare rice properly, so after one bite of any kind of their "sushi", I can tell that it is so fake. (Some of them taste good enough for quick lunch, but they shouldn't be called sushi.)

They have their restaurants, and it's not because they love sushi or proud of the country of Japan since they are not Japanese. They just want to make money, so I guess they don't care if they offer a real deal or not.

FYI: If you'd like to eat acceptable sushi in Montreal, you need to go to an expensive Japanese-owned restaurant and pay $50 a dish. If you'd like good or excellent sushi, go to Japan.