Seafood lovers short-changed
THIS IS A SOUTH AUSTRALIA GOVERNMENT NEWS ALERT, BUT WE MAY HAVE THE SAME THING HAPPENING HERE.
Consumers haven’t been getting the amount of frozen seafood they’ve paid for, with many packs of prawns found to be under-weight.
Trade Measurement inspectors from the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs (OCBA) recently examined 102 pre-packed products at metropolitan supermarkets and fish mongers, with almost half (46 packs) found to be underweight. Products tested include prawns, squid, fish cakes, fish fingers and fillets.
New uniform test procedures were followed to ensure that the actual seafood content was measured rather than the surface ice content.
Of the 46 underweight packs, one was Atlantic salmon and the rest were prawns.
Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gail Gago says “seafood lovers have every right to be disappointed with these results.”
“Consumers think they’re paying for a certain quantity of seafood, but in actual fact they’re getting less for their money.
“All pre-packed prawns checked in this exercise came from local fishmongers who had sourced the packs from the same interstate wholesaler. Nearly all of them failed weight tests, which simply isn’t good enough.”
The average deficiency was less than two percent, however the greatest deficiency was found with a one kilo pack of prawns that was nearly 100 grams underweight.
“It is important that these problems are addressed now as seafood sales will likely increase as we get closer to Christmas,” says Ms Gago.
The retailers caught selling under-weight items have been issued with warning notices, and OCBA is working with its interstate counterparts in relation to the seafood suppliers. The local retail outlets have stopped selling the whole packs to the public.
Minister Gago said “As this is the first time that frozen seafood has been tested by Trade Measurement inspectors in SA the retailers have been cautioned, but the same leniency won’t be shown if any problems are found during follow up visits.”
Traders caught selling inaccurate quantities risk a maximum penalty of $20,000 under the Trade Measurement Act 1993.
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Faulkner Family
Posts: 18027
Date Joined: 11/03/08
it happens with all sorts of
it happens with all sorts of foods not just seafood, same goes for tinned stuff, drain off the water or juice and see what you have left , in most cases you get a lot less than you paid for
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
madwafisher
Posts: 23
Date Joined: 24/09/09
Been happening for a long
Been happening for a long time.
Seems these days there alot of air or unwanted liquid making the item seem heavier or larger, pretty bad especially with high priced items.
shammy
Posts: 231
Date Joined: 03/07/09
Mutleys
It's not only us the poor ol mutleys have been getting short changed as well.
We went from P@L to Chum not bad but have found the Woolworths brand of mutley food for the Hound to be the dryest and how shall we say...........
well the proofs in what comes out..........
Give it a try.
__________________________________________________
I have also found if you work out how much the prawns as bait cost Vs edible prawns by the Kg you'll get better value if you purchase the edible prawn not the "bait" ones. They have to conform to a standard not that slop you get out of a bait packet. Fish like em too.
cheers
"Life wasn't meant to be a spectator sport"
Colin Hay
Posts: 10407
Date Joined: 23/10/07
Lol No thanks Shammy
I like my food, but I think I will give that stuff a miss.
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scottnofish
Posts: 1621
Date Joined: 28/08/07
i think what he ment col
was use the good ones for bait as they are the same price as the sloppy bait ones
Colin Hay
Posts: 10407
Date Joined: 23/10/07
Lol I was talking about the dog food
I agree with him on the prawns.
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shammy
Posts: 231
Date Joined: 03/07/09
No dippin in now Colin:)
Hey Colin, I hope your not standin there with a tin of Woolies best, and a spoon lolololol.
You'd probably get away my delightful little creation in some of the restaurants though,
hey picture this,
Crisp white table cloth, Beautiful clean white plate, nice slice (make it neat now) of woolies Huckleberry hound tucker, (firm meaty dry, mmmm nice texture) in the centre of the plate, a couple of aforementioned prawns strategically placed both on top of the hounds delight, a little brandy over it all, flambe' the lot, add a little garnish, make sure you carefully wipe the edge of the plate, mmmmmmmm Entree. ;)
"Life wasn't meant to be a spectator sport"
Colin Hay
Posts: 10407
Date Joined: 23/10/07
Hmmmmm thank god I am fasting shammy
Remind me not to eat at your restaurant if you ever open one (Lol).
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shammy
Posts: 231
Date Joined: 03/07/09
Back 2 fishing
good to see you have sense of humour, speaking of which, I seem to be the butt of most jokes in my family due to my resounding success and inability to catch some decent fish, (or cook) so I need to plan this carefully. Your help would be most appreciated.
The plan is to Hook up the boat, convince the kids I'm taking it for a service or such, drop them at school .... all going well so far, off to Hillarys/ Ocean Reef or even take the Roe to Cockburn Sound, Launch the boat, all going well all I now need is to find a couple of decent spots to get onto some fish, any suggestions, Snapper out the back of Garden Island?? Dhuies off Ocean Reef (remembering I've never caught one) ---(oh hang on that'll be closed season by then will it????) Aaaarrrggghhh , or over to Rotto and chase some Kingies off West End???.
Over to you guys...
"Life wasn't meant to be a spectator sport"
Colin Hay
Posts: 10407
Date Joined: 23/10/07
Hi mate Unfortunately I am a poor landlubber shammy
so I am not going to be able to help you too much. Personally I would love to be chasing the kingfish, or even some the really big tailor that hang around some of the reefs near Rotto.
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shammy
Posts: 231
Date Joined: 03/07/09
Cheers
As good a tip as any, tried the offshore reefs a few times but was time limited so didn't get a good look (near stragglers and across to the reefs around Garden Island)
I'm sure I'll have fun just looking.
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Colin Hay
Posts: 10407
Date Joined: 23/10/07
Shammy, If the conditions were right a trip to the Key Biscayne
rig would be brilliant at this time of the year. There should be a lot of big samson fish and yellowtail kingfish hanging around there about now.
It is a long trip though unless you launch from Lancelin.
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Decella
Posts: 401
Date Joined: 01/02/09
You pay for water
I was just talking to a mate and he was saying that they soak prawns in water to bulk up the wieght. I have some prawns that are snap frozen if your interested. When you defrost them there is hardly any water that comes out of them.
shammy
Posts: 231
Date Joined: 03/07/09
I'll have a look at the Key
Thanks for the heads up I hadn't thought of that one.
I'll see if I can Google earth it and have a look or get the co ords from the net.
Haven't been to Lancelin with the Boat I'll have a look at the launch facilities.
thanks again ;)
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Colin Hay
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Date Joined: 23/10/07
You should be able to Google up the coordinates
A few dive sites list them.
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