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AN increasing number of fried fish and fresh fish retailers are facing court action for passing off cheaper fish - usually Vietnamese farmed and caught varieties - as more expensive cod and haddock.
Trading Standards officers around the UK are clamping down on the practice by carrying out frequent spot checks because they feel the practice could undermine the reputation of Britain's fish and chip trade. It is also conning the public. The action also has the backing of ports like Grimsby and Hull, the main suppliers of cod and haddock.
The latest offender was the owner of a Leicestershire fish and chip shop who admitted selling imported freshwater fish as cod following random DNA tests by trading standards. It cost him more than £1,000.
Balbir Singh Bachra, 51, of the Trident Fish Bar in High Street, Market Harborough appeared before his local magistrates and was fined £750 and ordered to pay £450 costs with a £15 victim surcharge.
Phil Hurford, of Leicestershire County Council's trading standards, said: "Customers who have ordered and paid for cod should not be deceived into paying the same price for a cheaper alternative.
With cod and haddock prices soaring there is a growing temptation to find cheaper alternatives. Trading standards officer in Essex recently carried out a crackdown on the county's fish shops to ensure they were selling fish as advertised, - and they were given the all clear.
Trading standards officers in Worcestershire have already successfully prosecuted one shop for passing off as cod Pangasius hypophthalmus, also known as river cobbler, or basa and is extensively farmed in Vietnam and other parts of South East Asia. Two other prosecutions are in the pipeline.
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