Lobster Salad Gets a New Name After Industry Group Questions Labeling
A well-known New York grocery has changed the name of its lobster salad after a Times-Picayune reporter recognized that lobster wasn’t listed as an ingredient.
Reporter Doug MacCash bought the lobster salad at Zabar’s while on vacation last month, but inspected the label more closely when he realized he wasn’t tasting lobster, the New York Times reports. In smaller lettering, the label revealed he was actually eating “wild fresh water crayfish.”
A Bangor Daily News editorial notes objections by the Maine Lobster Council. Executive director Dane Somers says the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act says species such as langostino and crayfish cannot be labeled as lobster without qualification. Also, the Federal Trade Commission Act bans the marketing of other species as lobster without express qualification.
Zabar’s has renamed its salad “seafare salad.” The Times points out that the new name could be problematic to sticklers who would point out that freshwater crayfish is not found in the sea.
