SYSCO Food Services will stop marketing fish labeled as grouper to its clients without first taking steps to ensure it actually is grouper, according to an agreement the company reached with the state Attorney General's Office.
The Palmetto food distributor was one of the suppliers to 14 restaurants in the Tampa Bay area where state investigators found fish labeled as grouper that turned out to be other species, like hake and emperor, officials said. Genetic testing failed to determine the exact source of the fake grouper.
SYSCO agreed to pay $200,000 in investigative and attorney's fees and costs and donate $100,000 worth of food, food preparation products and eating and drinking utensils to local charities, officials said.
SYSCO voluntarily complied with state requirements and made no admission that it had violated the law, the agreement said.
SYSCO is among the area's largest food distribution companies. It buys grouper from vendors for resale to restaurants and other food outlets. However, even when its own testing failed to identify its products as grouper, the company continued to label and sell it as such, based on assurances from its vendors, officials said.
"SYSCO has the best and most complete grouper testing protocol in the industry," said SYSCO's Mark Palmer, vice president of corporate communications. "The attorney general's office was complimentary of our pro-active steps to lead the industry toward better testing and labeling standards."
In October 2006, the state began investigating after a St. Petersburg newspaper reported that restaurants were selling grouper that turned out to be other types of fish, usually much less expensive varieties. Among the fakes were hake, emperor, sutchi, green weakfish, bream and painted sweetlips, investigators found.
"SYSCO was performing some tests, but the major difference will be in how the results will be handled," said Sandi Copes, press secretary for Attorney General Bill McCollum. "Now, if the fish cannot be identified, it cannot be served as grouper. Positive ID has to be confirmed."
The investigation and its results were welcomed by Karen Bell, office manager for A.P. Bell Fish Co. of Cortez, whose fishing fleet trolls the Gulf of Mexico for the mild white fish that is a favorite among diners.
Her company has had a difficult time because its catch is genuine and thus more expensive than grouper products imported from countries like China and Vietnam, which Bell said routinely identify different varieties of fish as grouper.
"I'm glad to see SYSCO is . . . doing something about it," said Bell. "When they need domestic grouper, tell them to call me."
Restaurateur Sean Murphy, who owns the Beach Bistro at Holmes Beach, said he buys locally from a small distributor or from Bell and only buys whole fish "so we know whether or not it's really grouper.
"The idea that a food company can say they did not know where they got their fish products is an appalling situation and the fine is appropriate," he said.
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