Yesterday I bought a package of frozen "Arctic Shores" shrimp at the meat counter of the local grocery store, an "Albertsons" as it happens. I didn't give it much thought at the time. It just seemed like a good deal for "Arctic" shrimp.
But when I got home, the label (photo above) caught my eye in more deatil. "Arctic Shores Raw Shrimp Prev Frozen" it reads. But as you can see, these shrimp weren't now "Raw" despite having once been "Prev Frozen." They were just plain frozen. Stone cold.
Then I looked at the label in more detail and started wondering, what does "Arctic Shores" shrimp really mean? Especially since I then noticed the "fine print" right below that description which reads, seemingly inconsistently, "Farm Raised Product of Thailand."
Uh oh....
As it turns out, "Arctic Shores" is indeed an accurate description (of a sort), but not in the way a typical shopper probably assumes. "Arctic Shores" is not, in fact, a geographic decription of where the shrimp themselves came from (or even where their species originated). It is actually the name ("Arctic Shores Seafood") of the generic in-store brand of seafood products sold by the Minnesota-based grocery store chain "SuperValu Inc.," which bought the Albertsons chain in 2006.
Mmmmmmm. Is your mouth watering, too, now? Or is that sensation you're feeling actually coming from a bit further back in your throat? (I guess a little knowledge really is a dangerous thing...)
Thanks for this informative post! I was wondering where this shrimp was from when I saw it on sale at my local albertsons ad and now I'll pass!
ReplyDeleteI also "fell" for the impression that these shrimp were "wild", rather than "farm raised". Never again!
ReplyDeleteI just got an Albertson's coupon for this product in my in-box and was curious about the origin. Could have trekked off to Albertson's to see for myself, but you saved me the trip. Thanks. Boooo, Arctic Shores!
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing this information, I was looking to see if this was a product of the USA or not, but you answered that for me. These are the kinds of products I will turn to face backwards on the shelf! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info, I was just looking at the Albertons ad to buy these shrimp and had no idea they were farmed, What ever happeded to good ole wild caught anything?
ReplyDeleteBeware! Much of the seafood sold at Albertsons and Smiths comes from China.
ReplyDeleteNo comparison on taste between Wild and
ReplyDeleteFarm Raised Shrimp. The Farm Raised has
no taste and is probably bad for you. They
raise these shrimp in big tanks and the shrimp eat their own crap and that's why they taste
like crap.
Amen
I spent two weeks in Ms. You could buy shrimp off the boats every morning for $4.00 per pd BIG ONES. When I got back to Chicago I started looking into our seafood. I can't find any shrimp from the Gulf. It might be packaged here but it's from China or Vietnam. Where is all of our seafood going ? I understand the seafood co. is buying real cheap and selling at a pretty good profit....AT OUR EXPENSE
ReplyDeleteDid anyone see the blurb on ABC about their sampling of shrimp? They found that 30% of the samples they collected accross the country contained anti-biotics banned by the FDA.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I'm pretty much a vegetarian, and generally purchase most of my produce at a local farmer's market. I happened to glance at an advertisement from Albertsons, and saw an ad for Arctic Shores Med. Shrimp(and thought mmmm... shrimp). My next thought was "where is the Arctic Shore exactly?" I ended up here via Google. lol No way am I eating shrimp from Thailand or China. There are clean areas in Thailand, but if the shrimp is from Bangkok, or thereabouts...no thanks. I'm afraid to eat most seafood because so much of it is contaminated with chemicals, pesticides, and contamination from the nuclear facilities in Japan... Farm raised fish is a bad bet, because many times there's pesticide run off from nearby farms. Visualize pesticide runoff in a pool of stagnant water. Yum.
ReplyDeleteI'd forgotten to mention that I mostly purchase organic produce, for fear of pesticides, irradiation and GMOs (genetically modified organisms). GMOs are particularly horrifying. If you want to know more about them, Google GMO Monsanto Seeds Free Full Movie. There are a number of GMO movies online.
ReplyDeleteWhat I see here are people who think they know everything. Are wild people better than the home grown?
ReplyDeleteYes, farm raised fish and shrimps are not the same as wild. You go and gorge on the sushi like a wildman? The salmon has to be the farm raised kind because of regulations! Don't prejudge! If the GM foods come out tasteless, don't eat them. Just think, in a few more years you will pop a pill in your mouth, lean back, rub your belly and say "What a nice meal!".
I'm in the seafood business and most good shrimp is farm raised. In most cases farm raised is actually preferred over wild caught. You have to remember, shrimp are bottom feeders, so controlling what they are fed is for safety and consistency. And no shrimp caught in the arctic would ever be this large, its simply not possible. You are acting as though this is a bad product. But in fact almost all restraunts and stores sell farm raised. Farm raised is not bad. It actually helps to prevent over fishing and helps to have a more consistent yield. While all arctic shrimp is wild, you cannot just to conclusions based solely on the brand, or peter pan seafood would come from netherland. And almost all shrimp purchased and sold at retail and restraunt levels are farm raised asian or indonesian shrimp. People, there is nothing wrong with these products. And don't believe everything that you hear on the news, and read the label before you buy, but from my point of view, and my experience, farm raised is perfectly safe.
ReplyDeleteAnd fyi in seafood raw refers to uncooked. Slacked refers to a product that has been thawed.
ReplyDeletePeople this post is extremely misleading. There is nothing wrong with the product. And to the person saying the shrimp are in a tank eating their own crap, I guess you don't know that in the wild all shrimp do is eat crap, from all different creatures including themselves. And as far as gulf shrimp, that's a very small market that stays along the gulf. The oil spill didn't affect the shrimp market anywhere but the gulf because everyone else uses imported shrimp because the quality is much higher. I think this person who submitted this is only representing one side, so I'm representing the other. This article was obviously written by someone who doesn't know a thing about seafood, but posts anyway and makes a perfectly good product look bad.
ReplyDeletesure would like to see the ceos of these companys eating their product at least twice a week. bet they dont.
ReplyDeleteArctic Shore Seafood Tilapia is very good product. Has size and taste very good fish. Nothing wrong with it, it's my breakfast #1 thing on menu!!!!
ReplyDelete