Oilfish

The oilfish, Ruvettus pretiosus, is a species of snake mackerel in the family Gempylidae, and the only species in the genus Ruvettus. It is found in the Mediterranean, middle Atlantic and throughout the southern seas, at depths of between 100 and 800 m. Its length is between 80 cm and 2 m.

The flesh is very oily and although edible, the oil actually consists of wax esters, which are not digested like traditional oil.

The oilfish, Ruvettus pretiosus, is a species of snake mackerel in the family Gempylidae, and the only species in the genus Ruvettus. It is found in the Mediterranean, middle Atlantic and throughout the southern seas, at depths of between 100 and 800 m. Its length is between 80 cm and 2 m.

The flesh is very oily and although edible, the oil actually consists of wax esters, which are not digested like traditional oil. The flesh has an oil content of around 25%, and with serving sizes of several ounces and upwards commonplace, some people experience a laxative side effect from such a large amount of wax esters.

Olfish is pleasantly rich in taste and can be substantially cheaper than some other fish species, leading to some fish sellers to intentionally mislabel it as butterfish or even codfish despite the utter lack of relation. This leads the consumer to often eat large servings, as they assume it is a fish they are familiar with, and then some may experience a laxative effect. Because of this, Japan

Japan

is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...

 have imposed an import ban on oilfish and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...

 has banned oilfish from being sold as food. The US FDA has warned consumers about potential mislabeling of oilfish, but has concluded that any laxative side effects that occur are uncomfortable at worst and pose no health risk.

Hong Kong Oilfish controversy

Hong Kong's

Hong Kong

Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...

 PARKnSHOP

PARKnSHOP

PARKnSHOP is one of the two largest supermarket chains in Hong Kong . ParknShop operates more than 260 outlets in Hong Kong, Macau, and Mainland China....

 supermarket was selling oilfish as "cod fish (oilfish)" in its stores. Consumers ate the fish believing it is codfish, then suffered oily diarrhea

Diarrhea

In medicine, diarrhea , also spelled diarrhoea , is the condition of having frequent loose or liquid bowel movements. Acute diarrhea is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide...

 as a result. The oilfish-labelling controversy was reported by a number of news and media organizations, such as TVB Newsmagazine. A total of 14 complaints were filed against the supermarket chain, leading to an investigation by the Centre for Food Safety. ParkNShop has denied responsibility, claiming the fish is safe for human consumption. Nonetheless, the chain has since stopped selling the fish product.

On 30 January 2007, the commercial attache from the Indonesia

Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...

n consulate in Hong Kong confirmed that the export health certificate Mr Peter Johnston

Peter Johnston

Peter D. Johnston is an international negotiation expert whose results have been formally recognized by the US Government for their positive economic and social impact....

, ParkNShop's Quality Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs General Manager, had used in its media conference several days earlier was doctored. The attache explained that its fisheries department, under a request from the Hong Kong importer, had changed the product name, by including "Cod Fish" alongside its scientific name, on the certificate.

As a result of the PARKnSHOP-oilfish incident, Centre for Food Safety in Hong Kong published new guidelines on the proper labelling of oilfish to consumers, such that oilfish species "Ruvettus pretiosus" and "Lepidocybium flavobrunneum" should not be labelled as "cod". PARKnSHOP was also fined HKD 45,000 after pleading guilty to 9 counts of misrepresentation of products.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , a Canadian crown corporation, is the country’s national public radio and television broadcaster. In French, it is called la Société Radio-Canada...

reported (Feb. 23, 2007) on several cases in Canada where mislabelled oilfish was sold at Chinese supermarkets. Canadians fall ill after eating mislabelled oily fish