Dr Oz: Is Your Calamari Actually Pork Bung? + Mislabeled Seafood

Dr Oz: Are You Really Eating Calamari?

After learning more about shrimp and whether you’re buying contaminated or tainted shrimp, Dr Oz wanted to continue his investigation by looking at another seafood market staple: calamari. So many people love to order those slightly chewy rings of calamari when they eat at a restaurant, whether grilled or fried. But recently, some have claimed the calamari you’re being sold is actually pork bung. So what in the world is pork bung? It’s the rectum and large intestine of a pig.

Mark Schatzker was back to reveal the true facts. He showed Dr Oz how they look entirely different when you lay them side-by-side whole, but when you slice them into rings and then fry them, you can’t tell them apart. Dr Oz took a bite of the fried pork bung and was immediately disgusted, saying it tastes meaty. “There’s no way they can con me with that,” Dr Oz exclaimed.

That’s when Mark explained that they’re actually not. There’s no evidence that pork bung has ever been sold as calamari, so you can keep enjoying the dish like you always have. Mark added that it’s an urban myth that spread like crazy online

Dr Oz: Fish & Seafood Mislabeled

Dr Oz then explained that while pork intestines being sold as calamari is a myth, mislabeling food is true. It’s called food fraud and he welcomed Beth Lowell from Oceana, the largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation. Oceana tested more than 1,400 sample of seafood including fish, shrimp, and crab purchased from grocery stores, restaurants, and sushi bars. Over a third of the seafood they tested was mislabeled and they looked at places in 24 states from coast to coast.

Lowell explained that seafood actually travels a long way from boat to dinner table and there are no current requirements for how they’re tracked or traced. The more hands the fish go through, the higher chance of fraud. Escolar and tuna are often confused or switched, and Lowell found that escobar was often sold as white tuna in sushi restaurants. Escolar can give you digestive problems like diarrhea.

Dr Oz: Are You Really Getting The Fish You Ordered?

Snapper is one of the most expensive fish you can order, and tilapia looks pretty similar but is much cheaper. You could be paying snapper prices while eating tilapia. Along the same lines, in New York City, tile fish was often served as halibut. Tile fish is a high-mercury fish which can be dangerous particularly for pregnant women and children.

To avoid fish fraud, buy whole fish and ask them to cut it into steaks or fillets for you at the store. Don’t be afraid to challenge the vendor and ask questions about the fish. Also look for a QR barcode and scan it with your phone to learn where the fish came from.

Dr Oz: Fish & Chips For Under 500 Calories

Speaking of fish, Dr Oz wanted to celebrate what he called one of the most influential British imports: fish and chips. But because the dish is commonly so loaded with fat and calories, he wanted to show viewers how they can have fish and chips for under 500 calories! Chef Sam Talbot was able to transform it into a low-calorie dish by using a combination of tapioca flour and almond flour to coat the fish before drizzling it with sunflower oil and baking it. It suggested a 3:1 almond flour to tapioca flour ratio, and said the fish comes out nice and crunchy like you’re hoping.

French fries are also a huge part of the meal, but he used turnip fries instead to lighten the meal without sacrificing flavor. Instead of tartar sauce, Sam mixed Greek yogurt, mustard, salt and pepper, capers, and parsley or chives to make a healthier sauce. To see if Sam’s recipe could fool a true Englishman, he welcomed a producer and member of his medical team, a doctor from England, to try the fish and chips. He agreed that it was delicious, saying it was “as English as Shakespeare.”