The Great Shrimp Skimp w/ Dan Pashman

Summary

Podcast Summary: Scam Goddess – "The Great Shrimp Scam" featuring Dan Pashman

Introduction In this episode of Scam Goddess, host Laci Mosley delves into the pervasive issue of seafood fraud, specifically focusing on the mislabeling of shrimp in restaurants along the Gulf Coast. Joined by Dan Pashman, host of the food podcast The Sporkful, the duo explores how consumers are being deceived into believing they are purchasing locally sourced shrimp when, in reality, much of it is imported from abroad.

Shrimp Fraud Unveiled Dan Pashman kicks off the discussion by highlighting a significant scandal where restaurants falsely advertise their shrimp as locally sourced. He explains that a seafood consulting firm, CD (Sea) Capital D., conducted genetic testing on shrimp from various restaurants in Baton Rouge, Biloxi, Galveston, and Tampa Bay. The results were staggering, revealing that:

• Tampa Bay had a 96% fraud rate, with only 2 out of 44 restaurants serving genuine Gulf of Mexico shrimp.
• Biloxi, Mississippi, recorded an 82% fraud rate.
• Galveston, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had lower but still concerning rates of mislabeling.

Dan emphasizes the sophistication of these scams, noting that restaurants are using imported shrimp from countries like India and Vietnam to cut costs while maintaining the facade of serving premium, locally caught shrimp.

Dan Pashman [26:08]: "Tampa was the worst with a shrimp fraud rate of 96%. It's Tampa, Florida, baby. They don't. They do anything out there."

Impact on Local Industries The fraudulent practices are not just harming consumers but are severely impacting local shrimpers and the regional economy. John Williams, the executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, underscores the detrimental effects:

John Williams: "This is destroying the culture and causing economic havoc for local shrimpers who can't compete with the lower prices of imported shrimp."

Local businesses that adhere to honest practices, such as Mr. Ed's Po Boy, Shout Shap, and Porgy Seafood Market, are lauded for their commitment to authenticity. These establishments are highlighted as exemplary models amidst widespread deceit.

Regulatory Measures and Consumer Awareness In response to rampant mislabeling, states like Louisiana and Alabama have introduced new laws mandating that restaurants disclose the origin of their shrimp if they are importing it. This transparency aims to empower consumers to make informed choices and curb deceptive marketing practices.

Dan and Laci discuss the potential for certifications, suggesting that establishments serving genuine local shrimp could be awarded a certification badge from CD (Sea). This would serve as a trust signal to customers, differentiating honest businesses from fraudulent ones.

Kristen Bell [40:55]: "If you're going to say it's Gulf shrimp, then it should be Gulf shrimp."

Broader Implications of Food Fraud The conversation expands beyond shrimp to address the broader issue of seafood mislabeling. Studies have shown significant rates of mislabeling in other fish species, such as sea bass and snapper, further highlighting the systemic nature of food fraud in the industry.

Additionally, personal anecdotes from Kristen Bell illustrate everyday encounters with mislabeling, reinforcing the widespread impact of these deceptive practices. For instance, Bell shares her experience of expecting local shrimp at a gas station sushi restaurant, only to find that the shrimp's origin was misleading.

Kristen Bell [51:10]: "There's shrimp in so many restaurants all over America. How do we get this many shrimp? How could there possibly be enough shrimp caught just in the Gulf of Mexico?"

Cultural and Economic Consequences The fraudulent substitution of shrimp species is not merely a matter of misleading menus but poses serious economic and cultural threats. The local shrimp industry, a billion-dollar sector in Louisiana alone, suffers as consumers unknowingly opt for cheaper, imported alternatives. This undermines the livelihoods of local fishermen and erodes the cultural heritage tied to Gulf shrimping traditions.

Lacey Mosley [54:49]: "The communities are being hollowed out, the infrastructure's slowly dying, and a whole culture is being destroyed."

Historic Hoodwinks: Case Studies and Statistics In the Historic Hoodwinks segment, Dan Pashman presents detailed case studies and statistics about shrimp fraud:

• Genetic Testing Accuracy: The rapid genetic tests developed at Florida State University can identify Atlantic white shrimp within two hours, facilitating immediate verification in restaurant settings.

• Economic Impact: With 90% of shrimp consumed in the U.S. being imported, the local industry faces fierce competition from cheaper, mass-produced farm shrimp, leading to significant economic strain.

Dan Pashman [38:46]: "It's against FDA regulations and federal law, so it puts customers at higher risk of consuming tainted foods."

Consumer Responsibility and Ethical Dining The hosts discuss the role of consumers in combating food fraud. By demanding transparency and supporting certified local shrimp suppliers, consumers can drive change in the industry. Additionally, the introduction of labeling laws empowers diners to make ethical choices, fostering a more honest marketplace.

Kristen Bell [46:18]: "Places should be honest about what they're serving. If it's not Gulf shrimp, then they should say so."

Conclusion Scam Goddess wraps up the episode by reiterating the importance of awareness and accountability in the food industry. The rampant shrimp fraud not only deceives consumers but also threatens the sustainability of local industries and cultures. By advocating for stricter regulations, certification programs, and informed consumer choices, the podcast emphasizes the collective effort needed to eradicate such deceptive practices.

Notable Quotes:

• Dan Pashman [26:08]: "Tampa was the worst with a shrimp fraud rate of 96%. It's Tampa, Florida, baby. They don't. They do anything out there."
• Kristen Bell [40:55]: "If you're going to say it's Gulf shrimp, then it should be Gulf shrimp."
• Lacey Mosley [54:49]: "The communities are being hollowed out, the infrastructure's slowly dying, and a whole culture is being destroyed."
• Kristen Bell [46:18]: "Places should be honest about what they're serving. If it's not Gulf shrimp, then they should say so."

Resources Mentioned:

• The Sporkful Podcast by Dan Pashman: sporkful.com
• Kristen Bell’s Cookbook: "Anything's Pastable" available at Sfolini.com
• Scam Goddess TV Show on Hulu and Freeform

Stay Connected:

• Scam Goddess: Follow on Twitter at @ScamGoddesspod
• Dan Pashman: Follow at @divalacy
• Kristen Bell: Follow The Sporkful on Instagram @the_sporkful

Final Thoughts This episode serves as a crucial reminder of the hidden complexities in our food supply chains and the need for vigilance both from consumers and regulatory bodies. By shedding light on the “Great Shrimp Scam,” Scam Goddess empowers listeners to be more discerning and advocates for a transparent and honest dining experience.

Transcript

[Lacey Mosley]

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[Dan Pashman]

Scam co Robbery and fraud. Scam. Car robbery and fraud. Scam Goddess. What's poppin, congregation? It's your girl, Lacy Mosley, AKA Scam Goddess, back with another installment of the podcast, all about robbery, fraud and those who pract. Sometimes we love them, sometimes we hate them. I will remind you again, this is still a comedy show. Y'all already know. If you are members of the congregation, if you're new, please stand up. We will welcome you. Welcome. Welcome. But you already know if you're an og listener. I'm very. What? Yes, Excited, thrilled, elated for today's guest. Today we have a pasta shape inventor on the show. Yes, you heard that, right. Okay, Inventor. He invented the new pasta shape called cascatelli, which m. I have. I believe I've had this, but I'm gonna wait. So he's the bestselling author of Anything's Pastable and y'all know a girl loves a pun. A three time James Beard winning creator. And we'll be going on a tour of Italy this November 2025 with fans. Okay, congregation, please welcome the host of the delicious podcast called the Sporkful foodie aficionado, Dan Pashman to the show.

[Kristen Bell]

Thanks so much, Lacey. It's great to be here.

[Dan Pashman]

Um, so love your PO Pasta. Love how it sticks to the sauce. Yes, I'm a fan. I have a photo of it right here.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right. Yeah. I specially designed it to hold a ton of sauce.

[Dan Pashman]

Yes.

[Kristen Bell]

Because, you know, some pasta shapes don't hold. Like spaghetti. Spaghetti doesn't. You finish the spaghetti, half the sauce.

[Dan Pashman]

Is still on the plate or on your lips. I have like, large lips, so it's Like, I swoop it in, and then it's like a lip full of sauce.

[Kristen Bell]

Because it's hard to get a good bite on the fork. So you have danglers coming off the fork. That was another thing. When I designed the shape, I wanted it to be able to stay on your fork, and you'll get good bites in the fork without having it falling all over your face.

[Dan Pashman]

I love pasta ergonomics.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right. Yes. Thank you. I like that phrase. I'm gonna steal that.

[Dan Pashman]

Yes. I mean, I feel like this is extremely technical, like, when it comes to food eating, and then I. That makes experience that much better, 100%.

[Kristen Bell]

And look, I. I love pasta. I love what, you know. You have me over for dinner, I'll eat any pasta shape you give me. But.

[Dan Pashman]

But, yeah, you're not a snob. You're not a snobster.

[Kristen Bell]

No, not at all. When it comes to the pasta, the motto of. Of the sporkful is actually, it's not for foodies, it's for eaters.

[Dan Pashman]

Okay, so you're not like, angel hair. You know what?

[Kristen Bell]

Well, all right. You happen to catch, like, one of the three shapes that I really. But I'm still not going to judge. But, like, you know, I don't love angel hair wagging.

[Dan Pashman]

You'll just never go back to their house.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, right.

[Dan Pashman]

You'll cut ties with them.

[Kristen Bell]

I love. I love pasta, but, yeah, I spent three years trying to invent new shape of pasta. We hope. We told the whole story in the Sporkful podcast all about everything that went wrong along the way. My wife thought it was a terrible idea. She's like, the world. How could there possibly even be another pasta shade that hasn't been thought of already? But she's a big supporter now, so all good.

[Dan Pashman]

So she was doubtful in the beginning, but then she was like, okay, you did it.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right.

[Dan Pashman]

You know what? I think she was trying to motivate you.

[Kristen Bell]

Maybe. Maybe. Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

She was like, dan, you could never make it. She's like your coach. She's like, if you want to get to the pasta Olympics.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right. What are some of your favorite pasta shapes, Lacey, Besides Cascatelli?

[Dan Pashman]

Oh, well, that's a great pasta shape. And for me, I don't like n smoky. I don't. I think it's too dense. So, like, this is right up my alley. Like Cascadelli. I guess my other pasta shapes would be. I mean, I'm a basic. I do love a barilla.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

I do love a Barilla. And then I love. What's the girl. What's the thicky girl Pasta. What's the.

[Kristen Bell]

Oh, is that the one where, like, the box.

[Dan Pashman]

She's, like, slim thick. She's slim thick.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah. It's like, not ravioli.

[Dan Pashman]

No, not ravioli, Jess. I'm not that basic. But you thought I was going to be like, chef boy's. I love the A's and the C's. I do not eat the D's. Wow, y'all are so disrespectful. I have a palate. Okay.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah. Hey, hey. I didn't. I didn't say anything. Talk to Jess. All right.

[Dan Pashman]

It's like the thick cut. You'll see it in a lot of Alfredos.

[Kristen Bell]

Like a fettuccine.

[Dan Pashman]

Yeah. Like. Oh, damn. Yeah. Feta cheese.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, that's a. That's a really good one. Yeah. Look, there's a lot of great pastas out there. I love all the pastas, and then.

[Dan Pashman]

I love a lasagna pasta.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

Does that count as a pasta?

[Kristen Bell]

Sure, sure. I love. You know. You know how the lasagna pasta has those ruffles on the edge?

[Dan Pashman]

Yes, yes.

[Kristen Bell]

Those ruffles were a big inspiration to me with Cascatelli because I was like. More pasta shapes should have ruffles because they hold a lot of sauce, and they pick up all the bits and pieces in the sauce.

[Dan Pashman]

Oh, okay. So it's like. It's like a shovel or like a scoop.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right. Sh.

[Dan Pashman]

Found. Sounds like dirt, but like a scoop or like.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah. Or like a grabber.

[Dan Pashman]

Oh, like a grabber. I never even thought about that. Like. Yes, get in here.

[Kristen Bell]

Everyone wants, like, tubes to hold, like, they want the tube shapes of pasta. But think about it. Even when you mix a lot of. Mix a tube pasta and a lot of sauce for a long time, like, the sauce doesn't really get far inside the tube you bite into. The tubes are still empty.

[Dan Pashman]

Exactly. And I've never. I got a question for you.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

How do you serve your spaghetti? Like, when you put it on a plate, what do you do to it? I know spaghetti is beneath you, but in the days where you deign to.

[Kristen Bell]

Spaghetti, you mean, like, what kind of sauce or what kind of plate?

[Dan Pashman]

How would you plate it?

[Kristen Bell]

So it's funny. So we have these soup bowls that my wife and I registered for when we got married that we've had now for 15 years.

[Dan Pashman]

Oh, I love that.

[Kristen Bell]

We didn't buy them intending for them to be pasta bowls, but they're soup bowls. But they're very kind of wide and flat. They're not deep. They're almost the size of a dinner plate, but with a little bit of a bowl function.

[Dan Pashman]

Well, yeah, with a little, like, depth to it.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, a little depth. And that is perfect for pasta because you get it spread out so you can kind of see you have a beautiful surface, but you get the sides. The bowl element gives you something to use for leverage with the fork to twirl the spaghetti. You can twirl the spaghetti against the sides of a wide, shallow bowl, and to me, that's perfect.

[Dan Pashman]

But you didn't ask my question, though.

[Kristen Bell]

Oh, sorry.

[Dan Pashman]

How do you serve it? Like, okay. I feel like now I'm giving you a trick question, Dan. You are thinking so hard.

[Kristen Bell]

I think it is.

[Dan Pashman]

It is a trick question. So, like, some people put, like, they put the raw noodle down first, and then they put the spaghetti on, like, the sauce and the meat on top of the raw noodle.

[Kristen Bell]

Right, right.

[Dan Pashman]

Do you do that, or are you a mixer?

[Kristen Bell]

So in a perfect situation, I think you'll mix, because when you mix the pasta with the sauce, it coats it better than, you know, you can't mix it. If you mix it in the pot, then you can really get it mixing without sauce flying everywhere. If you try to do that level of thorough mixing on your plate, it's going to be on you, or at least it's going to be on me. I know if I try to do that. So you get better full coating if you mix it with the sauce before you serve it. That being said, like, in my family, let's say I'm making, like, sometimes I'll make two sauces, like, a spicy and a not spicy. So, like, everyone can mix the sauces to get their spice level. Cause I like spicy. My older daughter likes spicy, My younger one doesn't. So in those cases, when you're mixing and matching, then you can't mix the pasta with the sauce in advance. So you have to let people mix on their plates.

[Dan Pashman]

That's very considerate of you. I mean, I grew up as an African American. I feel like we eat more spaghetti than Italians. Like, it's always like, is spaghetti in here? Like, that's like a running joke. Like, mom, can we go to McDonald's? It's spaghetti in there. So, you know, you get some spaghetti at the beginning of the week, and you gonna have that for three days at least. But we do. Like, I like to use Italian sausage in my spaghetti. Like, that's spicy and, like, you Know, give it a little kick to it. But I ground up the meat. I don't have the bola. I've never liked the pasta or the meatball.

[Kristen Bell]

Right, right.

[Dan Pashman]

Because then I'm like, I'm cutting it, trying to get it in there and I'm like, I just want the meat in the sauce already.

[Kristen Bell]

I'm with you, I think, 100%. And you know, spaghetti and meatballs is not an Italian thing. They don't really do it that way in Italy. That's an American thing.

[Dan Pashman]

Yeah. What they doing in Italy? Because you're going to Italy.

[Kristen Bell]

I'm going to Italy. I went to Italy to research for my cookbook, which all non traditional pasta sauces. It's called anything's pastable, but it's using spices and seasonings from cuisines all over the world. And so it's got a lot of spice, a lot of flavor. All different kinds of ingredients in pasta that you don't normally see there. And I did a research trip in Italy for it. And then I do tours also. Now I've started doing where I take folks to some of the places I went on my research and we go and eat pasta together in Italy. So if folks want to go to sporkful.com and click on events, you can get more info there. But I. When we go on this tour, we go to a specific city in southern Italy called Bari where they have a spaghetti dish that I think would be up your alley as a spaghetti eater, Lacy.

[Dan Pashman]

Okay.

[Kristen Bell]

It's called spaghetti all assassina. Assassin's spaghetti.

[Dan Pashman]

Ooh.

[Kristen Bell]

You take the spaghetti and you put it in a pan with spicy tomato sauce.

[Dan Pashman]

Okay.

[Kristen Bell]

And you cook it down and cook it down till the sauce soaks into the pasta. The pasta's mostly raw. When you put it into the sauce, you cook it for like a half an hour, then you add some more oil and you keep cooking it till the sauce is like as thick as a paste. And then you keep cooking it until it starts to get pan fried and this part of the pasta turns crispy golden brown and crispy.

[Dan Pashman]

Crispy pasta.

[Kristen Bell]

Crispy spicy spaghetti tomato sauce.

[Dan Pashman]

That sounds amazing. I'm so hungry right now. Wow. Okay, I gotta see. I haven't been to Italy yet. It's definitely on one of my stops to go to.

[Kristen Bell]

I'll give you some recs if you do.

[Dan Pashman]

Well, I'm gonna be on your trip, Dan.

[Kristen Bell]

I'll see you there.

[Dan Pashman]

Ok, listen, I'm not gonna go through the website. I'm gonna check the dates and I'M a scam you, Dan. I'm just gonna be there and be in the shadows. Every restaurant you at, I'm gonna just be in the corner. I'm ready. I'll be like, I'll have what they're having. I'm just doing that at every restaurant. So, Dan, I have to ask you, what is your relationship with scams? Have you ever been scammed? Like any food scams? They could be anything. It doesn't have to be about food, just like anything that's happened.

[Kristen Bell]

I, I don't think I've ever been scammed in a massive, life altering way, but I have been scammed in small ways. I remember back in my 20s, I was a waiter at a restaurant, okay. And there was like a loading dock in the back. And I. This was a million years ago when I used to smoke the occasional cigarette. And this is where the servers. On our break, you'd go out and smoke a cigarette. So one day I'm out there smoking a cigarette. It's in Boston. Some guy comes up to me from the sidewalk and he's like, gives me this whole sob story about how he got stranded. He doesn't have any money. His wallet was stolen. He needs to get back to wherever he was going. Please, please, please can you help me? So I just, you know, he gave me these puppy dog eyes and I gave him 20 bucks.

[Dan Pashman]

Okay, I don't want to date you, but do you mind telling me what year this was?

[Kristen Bell]

This was. So I'm about to turn 48. So this was. It would have been. Let's see, I graduated from college in 1999, so it was probably 2000 or 2001.

[Dan Pashman]

Okay, so a 2000 or 2001 $20 bill is still a $20 bill.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah. It was not nothing. I mean, it was not nothing.

[Dan Pashman]

That's not nothing. Okay, that's like a $5 bill now.

[Kristen Bell]

But one of the things, like when you're waiting tables, you get paid in a lot of cash. So, like, you feel richer than you are. Cause you get a pocket full of cash. You know, you're like, I got all this.

[Dan Pashman]

I hope you didn't whip out the whole wad.

[Kristen Bell]

No.

[Dan Pashman]

Turned around and was like, hey, I just reached this. Yeah, let me see if I got anything wrong.

[Kristen Bell]

But I gave this guy 20 bucks and I felt, you know, felt good about myself, I guess. I'm a good person. I'm helping out this poor soul who seems like he's really desperate. Next day, I'm talking to my buddy Zeke, one of the other waiters in the restaurant. And he said, man, I just gave this guy some money. He said, he's stranded here. And I said, oh, you're not. You gotta be kidding me. I said, we both just got scammed, Zeke, because that same guy, he found out he had some sympathetic figures at the loading dock where all the waiters go to smoke cigarettes, right?

[Dan Pashman]

And y'all all got cash. He's like, I know they got cash, right?

[Kristen Bell]

That's right.

[Dan Pashman]

That's how you get out of that situation. Like, I don't have any cash. I don't care. Coin, currency. So he's like, I know they got CA over here and they gotta smoke. They on that nicotine team. So I know they need a hit around, you know, lunch break. Yeah, yeah, before dinner rush. They gotta get that. So. But okay, I will argue here that this is a scam because this man lied, but nobody really got hurt. And he also was technically working a job because he gave you a whole sob story. I would argue that's like a movie, you know, like entertainment. It's like you go to the movie theater, they give you a sob story. You sit there, you paid for it. Right? So really, he was just on his job. You know, he scouted out locations.

[Kristen Bell]

Right. You know, look, it may be that that's his job, but I, I, I would. I feel like, you know, when you go to a movie, you're kinda, you're a willing participant. You chose to take part in this.

[Dan Pashman]

That the movie didn't show up and pull, like, pull down the screen. Like, Nikki Kidman didn't come up and was like, it's beautiful times in the. And you were like, ma'am, we are on our smoke break. And she was like, movies can change you and your life. And then she pulls down the screen. You're like, ma'am, we have to get back to our shift. She was like, give me $20 and watch Tom Cruise jump off stuff. AMC. Okay, fair enough. Fair point, right?

[Kristen Bell]

Or if Nicole Kidman showed up and she was like, hey, you know, I really need help making my next movie. Wouldn't you like to support me in my work as a struggling young artist? And I was like, yes, I would like so much to do that. And then she just took the money and went out to dinner with it.

[Dan Pashman]

Okay, see, but my thing about when you give people money on the street is, like, it's not my responsibility anymore to know what you did with it. I walked away feeling like a better person. You walk away with some coin. I'm not gonna be like, if I see you again, like, hey, show me a receipt of where you spend the $20. You better have gone to CVS and got a toothbrush and some mouthwash and, you know, a slim Jim. Like, you know, it's like, not my responsibility anymore to ch what you're doing with it.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, I actually, I do agree with that logic. Like, you were giving money to someone on the street who, like, is clearly struggling in some way. Yes, I do agree with that. In that case. But this guy asked for money for a specific purpose.

[Dan Pashman]

Yeah.

[Kristen Bell]

Like, because he was in trouble. And it turns out that was a lie.

[Dan Pashman]

Now, I would argue he was still in some kind of trouble if he got to be targeting restaurant workers.

[Kristen Bell]

You know, to me, the lie is what makes it a scam. Like, I was going into a cannabis shop in New York City to buy some weed, and some guy standing out there and he said, hey, man, like, I'm struggling. Like, can you get me a joint?

[Dan Pashman]

Yeah.

[Kristen Bell]

And I said, you know what? Sure. I bought the guy a joint and I gave it to him. I handed it to him on the way out. On the way out. And he didn't thank me. He just, like, took. He didn't acknowledge. He didn't say thanks. He didn't say anything. He just took it. Now, whatever, that bothered me less. Cause at least it was an honest transaction. Like, he was like, can you buy me weed? I said, yes, and I bought him the weed. And I felt like, whatever that guy's issues in life are, hopefully I brightened his a little bit. But he didn't lie to me, even if he wasn't as appreciative as he could have been. So, like, that was not a scam.

[Dan Pashman]

Okay.

[Kristen Bell]

But the first guy lied to me.

[Dan Pashman]

I argue this, dad. What if the first guy came back to the spot because he still hadn't found his wallet? He's still looking for it.

[Kristen Bell]

Even the money I gave him and the money my friend Zeke gave him still wasn't enough. And he came back. It's three weeks later. I still haven't made it back to Providence.

[Dan Pashman]

Listen, it's hard to get back to Providence. I'm just messing with you, Dan. That is a scam. It is a scam. Absolutely scams.

[Lacey Mosley]

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[Dan Pashman]

So let's get into my favorite segment here, Dan. Historic hoodwinks. This is where I will regale you with the famous con caper group of criminals we don't know yet. Maybe we love them, maybe we hate them. We'll get your opinions, Dan, all throughout this and I think you're going to be having some opin. I chose this episode especially special for you.

[Kristen Bell]

Oh, thank you. I'm very honored.

[Dan Pashman]

Yes. Because you are an expert in this field and I love when we can have someone on who has some extra information. So today we're talking about how most of the locally sourced shrimp on a restaurant menus along the Gulf coast are in fact dun, dun, dun, not local.

[Kristen Bell]

Oh.

[Dan Pashman]

But are secretly imported from other countries and served up to unsuspecting consumers who wouldn't know know a local shrimp if it slapped them in the face. I do. Ask local or, or whatever. And the only way that you can't catch me with that is oysters.

[Kristen Bell]

Right.

[Dan Pashman]

I like Kumono oysters, I like Washington and then Hawaii and actually California's oysters have been getting a little better. But anything Louisiana, anything like Georgia, anything around there. No, I can tell the difference. They're bigger, they're brinier, they're slimier. Like I just want a cute like, like buttery little thing. You know what I mean?

[Kristen Bell]

Right. Right. So you know I know.

[Dan Pashman]

So you can't lie to me about that. But a locally sourced shrimp, like I'm not knowing. I don't know where that girl came from. Would you know?

[Kristen Bell]

So, so you're telling me that there are places along the Gulf coast that are claiming that they're selling local shrimp and in reality they're shrimp from halfway around the world.

[Dan Pashman]

Yes. From other countries. And they're their customers. How would they know that? So this kind of maritime malarkey is nothing new. In fact, fish fraud has been rampant in the US for decades. So skimping on shrimp, just so we're clear, mislabeled or substituted seafood is considered fraud in the newest scandal to hit the surf. Half of the surf and turf, right? Half of the surf and turf, rather.

[Kristen Bell]

Right.

[Dan Pashman]

Restaurants along the Gulf of Mexico have been exposed for lying to customers about the origin of their shrimp. A seafood consulting firm called CD spelled S E A capital D. I like that. That's cute. Did a genetic testing on shrimp randomly from chosen restaurants in Baton Rouge, Biloxi, Shout out to Biloxi, Mississippi, Galveston, and Tampa Bay. Most restaurants in the probe were passing off their shrimp as locally sourced, even though they were grown on foreign farms and imported into the U.S. now, this is really petty to me because why are you going into, like, Red Lobster? You know? Like, why are you, like, going in there with a syringe, like, petri dish? Who cares if the people like the fish, but they're, like, mad about it?

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, but that's really sort of the heart of the question, right, Lacy? Like, I guess the question is, like, does it matter?

[Dan Pashman]

Yeah.

[Kristen Bell]

Would I be able to taste the difference? So it's funny, I just recently did an episode of the Sporkful podcast where I did a road trip across the south, because I've long heard that gas stations in the south are famous for having really good food. A lot of the best food is in the. In the south is in gas stations like, Buc. EE's all over the place. So I. I did a road trip from Birmingham, Alabama, to Memphis. So I drove across northwest Alabama, across part of Mississippi, and to Memphis, and I stopped at five different gas stations, and one of them was five different restaurants in gas stations.

[Dan Pashman]

This is, like, parts unknown, but for.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, but gas stations in Mississippi.

[Dan Pashman]

Chevron's unknown.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah. Yeah. Jerky, parts unknown on a much lower budget. So I. So I was at a place in Jasper, Alabama, a place called Bayou Fresh Seafood. That is a sushi restaurant in a gas station.

[Dan Pashman]

People come.

[Kristen Bell]

I know that. I know. That is an understandable reaction, Lacy, for folks who can't see. Lacy just cringed at the idea of gas station sushi. I understand. I was reluctant to.

[Dan Pashman]

Maybe if I need to drop, like, eight pounds real fast.

[Kristen Bell]

But they got this guy there, Mr. Zhu, who's Chinese American. He learned to make sushi. He's been running it there. It's like an institution. And if you look up any listing of, like, best gas station restaurants in The South. You will see Bayou Fresh Seafood on that list.

[Dan Pashman]

I never Googled that. If I googled best gas station restaurants in the South, I feel like the.

[Kristen Bell]

FBI would be like, I'm telling you, everyone from like, Southern living magazine to eater.com have done their rankings, so it's out there. But I went to Bayou Fresh Seafood to eat the sushi because I wanted to experience gas station sushi. Everyone said, this is really good sushi. I'm sitting there waiting for the sushi and a plate of shrimp. This is where we get back to our story. A plate of shrimp walks its way. It gets carried past me by a server, and I could smell it from six feet away. The aroma of shrimp.

[Dan Pashman]

Okay.

[Kristen Bell]

And the truth is, you think about it like shrimp. If you're having fried shrimp, it smells and tastes mostly like fried with a little bit of shrimp, but you could just smell this incredibly fresh smell of shrimp, and it was so delicious. It was blackened shrimp. This plate of blackened shrimp on a little styrofoam plate flew by me, and I said, I need some of that. So in addition to this sushi. And they said, yep, we get this. This is Gulf shrimp shrimp. We get it brought up here to Jasper, Alabama. And they insisted that it's the best shrimp. And I tasted it, and it was some of the best shrimp I've ever had.

[Dan Pashman]

Wow. Okay.

[Kristen Bell]

So if. If they're telling the truth, which I'm inclined to believe they are, that it's. It is truly Gulf shrimp, I could taste it.

[Dan Pashman]

There probably is a quality to the shrimp, like where they are, you know, growing up and being botter feeders. So these shrimp knew Nemo like they were or like shark tales, like, they knew. They knew the girls for sure. Okay.

[Kristen Bell]

And also, it's just, you know, like, with kind of any food, like, when it's fresh and you're close to the source, when it hasn't had to travel so far, it's. It's just gonna have more flavor. It's like when you get a. You know, every eat. When you eat a carrot or potato that's, like, just pulled right out of the ground, like, you can. It tastes. It's a whole other level.

[Dan Pashman]

It has to be frozen and taken far and wide.

[Kristen Bell]

Right, Right. So when that vegetable you get, you know, has. Was picked halfway around the world, sat in a crate for a week, and was trucked all over the world, but it's weeks later, since it's been picked, that it ends up in your kitchen. It's not gonna have the same Kind of flavor as it does when you get it right off the farm. It's the same thing with shrimp or anything else.

[Dan Pashman]

That's true, because when I buy grocery store shrimp, I'm always going to the counter. You know, I make them devein it, but I don't get, like, frozen shrimp, because the frozen shrimp has been near, far, you know, wherever you are.

[Kristen Bell]

Right.

[Dan Pashman]

So that makes a lot of sense to me. I want. I want you to guess on your food expertise. Okay. Here.

[Kristen Bell]

All right, I'm ready.

[Dan Pashman]

So which shrimp from which city had the worst fraud rate on cd? Okay, so remember, they went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Biloxi, Mississippi, Galveston, Texas, and Tampa Bay. Which one do you think ranked the worst? Dan is thinking. He's got, like, his hands, two fingers on the temple.

[Kristen Bell]

A lot of factors to take into account.

[Dan Pashman]

He's reaching into his foodie bag.

[Kristen Bell]

I don't want my answer to be taken as an insult to whatever plate.

[Dan Pashman]

That's what I want.

[Kristen Bell]

I'm gonna go with Galveston.

[Dan Pashman]

Wow. With Tejas. You went against Tejas where? I'm from Texas. Oh, sorry. I'm from Dallas, but. I'm from Dallas, but. So I don't know what they be doing down there in Galveston.

[Kristen Bell]

That's a whole other world from Galv.

[Dan Pashman]

I don't know what they be doing down there. Well, you were wrong. I thought this was an easy one.

[Kristen Bell]

Okay.

[Dan Pashman]

Tampa was the worst with a shrimp fraud rate of 96%. It's Tampa, Florida, baby. They don't. They do anything out there.

[Kristen Bell]

Right.

[Dan Pashman]

It might not even be real shrimps. It might be the ones you get in the Manchurian where they. They crispy, and then when you put the water in, they shrimps again.

[Kristen Bell]

Right, right. Well, I'm curious now. What were the percentages in the other. Do you have that?

[Dan Pashman]

So only two of the 44 restaurants sampled in Tampa were actually serving Gulf of Mexico shrimp. Shrimp fraud ranged from 82% in Biloxi, which. I mean, it's Mississippi. Like, maybe they read the box wrong.

[Kristen Bell]

But of all the places, that's the one that's most on the Gulf, Right? I mean, I guess Galveston's on the Gulf. Baton Rouge is, like, up the delta just a little bit.

[Dan Pashman]

Yeah, yeah. Biloxi is like, they got water nearby, but it's like a thin strip of beach.

[Kristen Bell]

Right. But Biloxi is the. Of these four places, it's the one that I most associate with Gulf shrimp.

[Dan Pashman]

You would think so, but this doesn't surprise me. Like, I have family in Biloxi. I'VE spent time in Biloxi. Like, I've seen their beaches. I, I, I can see why they flying it out. And then the least fish fraud is 30% in Baton Rouge. So Louisiana, you know, they frying up some every day. Bon ton roulette.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right. That's right. Well, I mean, like, I, I, I, I was not going to guess Baton Rouge. I just feel like in Louisiana, like, they just take their food so seriously. They take their shrimp seriously. They're not going to be messing around with some kind of shrimp scam.

[Dan Pashman]

I would blame this 30% on Mardi Gras, okay? They, you know, they got some big hits coming in where people are sucking down that fish so fast.

[Kristen Bell]

Right, right. Yeah. They probably sell that 30% during that one week when they get a bunch of tourists who are too drunk to know the difference.

[Dan Pashman]

Exactly. That's when they doing shrimp buckets.

[Kristen Bell]

Right, Right.

[Dan Pashman]

Anytime you get food in a bucket, they ain't giving you exactly what they said. Okay. And you should know that by how it's served. Like, maybe they gave it to you in a trough. You thought it was gonna be like, wild caught. No. Come on now. And so 30% in Baton Rouge feels fair to me. That feels safe and fair. The sting operation used a new rapid genetic test developed at Florida State University, which can detect the presence of a gene specific to Atlantic white shrimp, either raw or cooked in as little as two hours. We are looking at the CSI of shrimp. Like, you come in here and it's like it's, or even law and Order. Like, you come in here and it's bitten and stabler. And then they pull the shrimp out of like a tiny little shrimp, like death. You know how to keep the bodies, but this is like so tiny. Keeping the shrimp cold. And they pull it out and they're like, this one, this one was a good one, you know, like, I feel like it's so serious. Look how they're posed next to their equipment. Like, they're like, yeah, we go, we're.

[Kristen Bell]

Gonna get you shrimp. And we get, we get this one guy in a lab coat. I actually, I put more stock in the guy in the lab coat because he looks like he means business. The other guy just looks like he's having a little too much fun to be some sort of shrimp CSI guy.

[Dan Pashman]

I actually put more credence in the guy in a suit than the one in the lab coat. Cause I feel like he's just trying to look the part.

[Kristen Bell]

You think he's not even a scientist. He Just rented a lot. He just bought a lab coat to look good.

[Dan Pashman]

Yes. Because I'm like, what kind of T shirt? He got a right?

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, he's got. Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

Does he have a Hanes T shirt under that lab coat, Bro, he just went to the medical supply store and got that lab coat so he could look like, I'm in the lab, and I got a coat on. I have been in the lab with a lab coat on. I'll see if I can find it for y'all. But there was this University of Pittsburgh commercial that we did, and it was selling the school, honestly, a scam, because I should have got paid. It ran during all the ESPN football games, and I should have got residuals, but they were like, do you want to be on tv? And it was my first time being on tv. I was like, I want to be a star. Yeah, give me that lab coat. My degree is in performance and business, and they had me in a lab just looking at beakers in a lab coat. They was like, give us science.

[Kristen Bell]

That's performance.

[Dan Pashman]

Technically, yes. But I was just. They were like, give us science, girl. Look at this green liquid in this tube, and give us science. So I feel like the black guy in the lab coat is giving me more than the guy in the suit. The guy in the suit is given like, I developed this, and this is my big moment to take a picture. And guy in the lab coat is like, I do. I have the syringe sometimes. So now we have to say that this was a revolution, Dan.

[Kristen Bell]

Okay?

[Dan Pashman]

This. This new shrimp science, because it used to take five days to do this type of testing. So now in two hours, I could be sitting in the restaurant and detect the fraud. They're like, why do they have a chemistry set over there? And they ordering all of our fish. They ordered three buckets.

[Kristen Bell]

Look at this smoke coming out of Table 46.

[Dan Pashman]

They specifically asked for a booth in the back, right. And they said, all you can eat shrimp. Give us the bucket. Give us the blackened.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right. That lady had a briefcase handcuffed to her wrist. That was weird.

[Dan Pashman]

But, no, don't worry about it. I saw somebody in a lab coat and a Hanes T shirt. I don't know what's going on over there. So typically, seafood experts can identify shrimp based on physical characteristics, but when they're peeled and deveined, it's harder to tell by the naked eye. So it's like when they got the. When the shrimp got the clothes on, we can tell where the girls came from. You Know, that's like if you got a fitted cap on and some Timberlands, like we know you're from New York, but maybe like if you got some cargos on and some flip flops and, you know, the tread on me hat. We know you from Florida, but once the shrimp get naked, it's harder to tell.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, yeah. Shrimp, shrimp are, are crazy looking. It's so rare that you that they're ever served whole. And I think a lot of people don't realize kind of how crazy a whole shrimp looks.

[Dan Pashman]

I don't like a shrimp or a lobster served whole because. Do you agree with this as like a food expert, do you agree that like, obviously, like shrimp and lobster are regarded as bottom feeders. And to me, like, when they're in their shells, they kind of look like roaches. Like, I feel like I'm eating a sea roach.

[Kristen Bell]

Well, it's interesting you say that because, you know, like, lobster was not always considered a fancy food.

[Dan Pashman]

No, they served it in Alcatraz.

[Kristen Bell]

Exactly. They served it in prisons in Maine. They used to pull 20 pound lobsters out of the sea and feed them to prisoners. In fact, it was nicknamed the cockroach of the sea.

[Dan Pashman]

Yep.

[Kristen Bell]

So, yeah, I agree with you that, I mean, look, I think a lot of animals, when you kind of think too hard about what you're eating or see them, you know, you know, it can get a little. It creeps me out sometimes if I think too hard about it. But yeah, those in particular, when you see the whole body, you're like, wow, like, it does look kind of like a, like a prehistoric insect.

[Dan Pashman]

What's the most delicious looking animal before you eat it?

[Kristen Bell]

Like, when it's alive.

[Dan Pashman]

Yeah, when it's alive. That looks like tasty. Now I'm trying to think. Yeah, like, is there one that I'm like, oh, we gotta cook that up.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

I've seen like a whole roasted pig. And I was like, that's fine, I think.

[Kristen Bell]

Right, right, right. And you know, you put an apple in his mouth, he looks happy.

[Dan Pashman]

It's something about the pig already being naked.

[Kristen Bell]

Mm.

[Dan Pashman]

He looks happy. Yeah. So typically they can look at the characteristics, but obviously we had that diagram up of the shrimp and it's got all the weird legs and the eyes and stuff once they're naked. Very hard. The new genetic test is more affordable and it can provide on site results, which is what we were talking about. Them going in the back of the restaurant, getting the booth and then ordering all the shrimp and then having their, you know, science experiment and they could go to seafood market, which they smell so bad, but they look so cool. Have you been to a seafood market?

[Kristen Bell]

I would imagine so, yeah. Yeah, definitely. Right? The smell can be a lot but like, yeah, it's still an amazing to see all of them all laid out there on the ice. I mean it's kind of beautiful.

[Dan Pashman]

And the way they toss them is something sensual about it. And I don't know, I just like to see men doing physical labor and not having podcasts. No shame in having a podcast. Okay. Cuz you get out in the field.

[Kristen Bell]

D. I hear you. That's fair. I'm not doing you get out all that much physical labor. I will grab aunt you.

[Dan Pashman]

Okay. You made a whole pasta.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, but I'll throw a bag of.

[Dan Pashman]

Pasta at you like Cascatelli. You did, you did the manual man work of making a pasta. So this is not you. Okay? I'm talking about people who just on the microphone and that's all they do. And then they go home and they don't build a house brick by brick. Like, what are you doing? So I love, I love to see a man throw something. I'm like, that's great for everyone. Robbery.

[Lacey Mosley]

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[Dan Pashman]

Hi, I'm Kristen Bell. Carvana makes car buying easy.

[Kristen Bell]

Isn't that right, hon?

[Dan Pashman]

Dax. Dax, Dax.

[Kristen Bell]

Sorry. Did you know about this? 7 day money back guarantee.

[Dan Pashman]

A week to evaluate seat comfiness, you.

[Kristen Bell]

Say a week of terrain tests. Yeah, I can test the brake pad resistance at variable speeds, make sure all.

[Dan Pashman]

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[Kristen Bell]

Make sure our stuff fits nicely.

[Dan Pashman]

Oh, the right.

[Kristen Bell]

Still need to buy the car.

[Lacey Mosley]

Getting ahead of ourselves here.

[Dan Pashman]

Buy your car with Carvana today. And frog. And now let's take a beat on our skimpy shrimp.

[Kristen Bell]

Shrimp.

[Dan Pashman]

I'm talking with Dan Pashman, host of the food podcast the Sporkful. As we mentioned earlier, it's not for foodies, it's for eaters. And if you love to eat, then this show is for you. On the Sporkful, Dan talks to some of the biggest names in the food world, like Bobby Flay. And he finds food stories in unexpected places. Check out his episode breaking down the news about egg prices and the unexpected popularity raw milk. In another episode, he traveled to rural Tennessee to talk with a preacher who is also a barbecue pit master and discovered that those two jobs have a lot more in common than you might think. Listen to this quick moment from the Sporkful podcast.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't have a church office per se, but the office is out back in the pit. People seem to feel more comfortable showing up during the week. I'm out back cooking or doing whatever, you know, they may say, can we talk? I need a little bit of time. And I think some folks would rather do that than come to a church office where things seem sanitary and things seem rigid. I don't know. I hope that hope church and papa kjos in some ways are synonymous. Not only because people can find me at either place, but because they know that they're going to be accepted and loved at either place, they're going to be fed at either place, and hopefully that they leave both places feeling better than they did when they got there.

[Dan Pashman]

And now back to the shrimp. So they can do this anywhere. But it still doesn't answer the most important question. Why would anyone dare lie about shrimp?

[Kristen Bell]

I would imagine it has to do with the cost. You know, you get the Gulf shrimp is probably more expensive. There's less of it. I mean, I, I think that in some parts of the world, they have massive farms where they can crank out just, just actual tons, like tonnage, tons and tons of shrimp in the most economically efficient way. It might not be the most sanitary way or the healthiest or the like, best for the environment or the best for the shrimp, but they can make a lot of shrimp. They can grow a lot of shrimp really fast, really cheaply. And as a result, they're able to bring the cost down. And then on the restaurant side, when they claim that it's Gulf shrimp, they can charge a premium.

[Dan Pashman]

Premium because it was out just chilling in the Gulf. It's wild caught.

[Kristen Bell]

Right. Well, that would be better, you know, and that would. But it would be more expensive. It'd be more expensive from the Gulf. And so the restaurant is going to buy the cheaper shrimp, but then they're going to mark it up and sell it as if it's the more in demand shrimp, you know, so that's, that's where you see the scam.

[Dan Pashman]

Let's see. I think your theory is right. Atlantic white Shrimp are one of the most economically valuable shrimp species in the southern US they are harvested from North Carolina to Florida along the Gulf of Mexico. With such high demand, restaurants can charge more. Like you said, Dan, you know your. I'm telling y'all, this man knows his shit, okay? If you have not been listening to his podcast, the Spork Full, you can go get an earful. Okay. It's exactly right. So restaurants are charging more for the coveted wild caught Gulf Mexico shrimp while secretly slipping in less expensive imported shrimp species such as Pacific white shrimp. About 90% of shrimp consumed in the United States is imported, according to the U.S. bureau of Labor Statistics. So 90% of our shrimp does not come from here. This is immigration.

[Kristen Bell]

Shrimp.

[Dan Pashman]

Investigators didn't name the restaurants defrauding people with fake local shrimp, but they did list a few restaurants that were operating truthfully. We salute you, Mr. Ed's po boy, shout Shap, and Porgis Seafood Market. And let's look at this.

[Kristen Bell]

So. So th. Those places were actually serving Gulf shrimp.

[Dan Pashman]

Yes. So I love that this organization CD isn't a hater. They know 90% of places are doing this, so they didn't come out and list all the places where they're like, oh, the shrimp is lying to you there, girl. The shrimp is lying. They decided to just highlight some of the few that have 100% uncut pure Gulf American shrimp.

[Kristen Bell]

Right. I like that. I mean, what CD ought to do. I mean, maybe they already do this, but, you know, this is where they can make some money here, is they should have, like, a certification. And so, like, they'll certify that you're using. Actually using Gulf shrimp. And then you can put on your menu, CD certified Gulf shrimp. And then when you see that on the menu, as a customer, you know that somebody has actually tested it. You know that you're getting what you're paying.

[Dan Pashman]

Yeah. Po Boy Shop, y'all should have certified shrimp in the window right next to your rating. And that way, if. If your rating is like a C or a B, you like. But we got that real shrimp, though.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, Authenticate. If I was the owner of Poboy Shop, I would be putting this. I have a big sign. I'd have it on the menu. I'd have it in the bathroom on the front door. Most places aren't. Don't actually sell you Gulf shrimp. Here at Po Boys, we do sell Gulf shrimp. Look at this report from C. Big, bold letters. The part that says, we salute Po Boy Shop, you know? Yeah, play it up.

[Dan Pashman]

Yeah. And then Also start charging more. Like get. Get some tablecloth linens, you know, like really get the girls going that you are having the finest shrimp. Make the shrimp, like get tinier forks. You know, the tine forks, like, really tell people it's a delicacy. Get a Michelin star, you know, make this the Michelin star of scrimps.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

Like, this is the best that you can get. The food looks amazing. It looks bomb.

[Kristen Bell]

Where was that?

[Dan Pashman]

It looks like they really.

[Kristen Bell]

That was in Tampa.

[Dan Pashman]

So this one is the other place that was recognized. This is Porgy Seafood Market. And I can tell that Porgy Seafood market does not play about their food because. Did you see those white ladies scroll down. So the Instagram, they taking pictures of the food and everything. But there was one photo. Go down a little bit more. So there was one photo of a white lady and she was. Hold. Yep, there it is. This white lady has tiny chef tattoos. She's got on her. Her like head bandana. She's got on her, like hipster glasses. The aprons are denim. Honey. It's giving like kitschy Richie. And she's holding up a crawfish delicately with two hands. Giving a space. Honey. This is so like, it's giving Brooklyn. I know that's not where they are, but it's just giving farm to table, ocean to mouth, you know, like, run the price up, girl. Cause you got it. The vibes are immaculate. The tiny tattoos. It's giving, it's giving. I went to culinary school. It's giving Cordon bleu. Okay. Living, living, loving that we are highlighting the good people.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

Here's how proud the head chef of non fraud restaurant, Parkway Breakery and Restaurant. And that's the name of it. Let me stop messing up their name. Parkway Bakery and Restaurant. So they a bakery and they're a restaurant. They said you could come in here and you. You could get. You can get a beignet and a shrimp today. I don't know how those match, but I'm here for them. So this is how proud they were of the wild caught shrimp that they have. That's local. Okay. So we're seeing it. This just looked like a regular po boy to me.

[Kristen Bell]

We have never fried a foreign shrimp.

[Dan Pashman]

And ever served it to our country customer.

[Kristen Bell]

I'll never even look at it as an option.

[Dan Pashman]

My guy had on a paper hat.

[Kristen Bell]

I'm a sucker. Yeah, I mean, forget all the hipster stuff. I'm a sucker for a paper hat. I love a chef in a paper. Paper chef's hats.

[Dan Pashman]

What year was this video made in? That's. When did they drop this joint? They dropped this five months ago. This man has a paper hat on in the 2024s and the 2025.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah. I love it.

[Dan Pashman]

He's not playing about his scrimps.

[Kristen Bell]

It reminds me. So I'm from New Jersey, and there's a famous place in New Jersey called Rut's Hut. They're famous for deep fried hot dogs. They've been there for about a hundred years. Like, my grandfather used to go there. And all the guys who work there wear those same paper hats. Like, just plain white with, like, a single blue stripe. And I love that look.

[Dan Pashman]

Yes. And the hat is white. That's how I know the kitchen is clean. Cause he's not wiping his hands on the hat. The hat was white, tilted to the side. Very pimp hat. Like, I. I really enjoy it.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

It's giving, Navy. It's giving. I go out to the ocean and I fight the shrimps myself. Okay.

[Kristen Bell]

That's funny to me. My vibe on that guy is more like, I haven't left this restaurant in 22 years.

[Dan Pashman]

Look at his skin. He does not see the sun. He is in Louisiana. And he's pale. Okay.

[Kristen Bell]

That's what I'm saying. I think that guy just go. Has been through 10,000 of those white papers hats. He probably puts on three a day. He's always taking them off. I don't think he has any shirts that don't have the logo of his restaurant on them.

[Dan Pashman]

No, it's what he sleeps in.

[Kristen Bell]

He goes to church in the middle. Right. He lives it. He is living it.

[Dan Pashman]

Like, he's all about shrimp. I know a scrimp hates to see Justin Kennedy, manager and head chef of Parkway Bakery and Tavern, coming. Okay. They are shook.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right.

[Dan Pashman]

Okay.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

And I love that for him. He should brag on your shrimp to let everybody know.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right. Right.

[Dan Pashman]

So why does this matter? Subbing one shrimp species for another isn't against FDA regulations and federal law and puts customers at higher risk of consuming tainted food. So that's why.

[Kristen Bell]

Right. And. And also, just, like, you know, obviously is a big topic for you on your show here, Lacy. Like, you just shouldn't lie to people. You know? Like, if you tell. If you say on your menu that you're serving a certain type of shrimp, then that's what you should be serving.

[Dan Pashman]

And it's against FDA law.

[Kristen Bell]

You could. You could import shrimp and make something delicious. You know, it doesn't have to be Gulf shrimp. But if it's not, if you're going to say it's Gulf shrimp, then it should be Gulf shrimp.

[Dan Pashman]

If it tastes good, it tastes good. In certain parts of Louisiana, like child, they just had six hurricanes. They're not like, is this locally sourced? Is this non G? Is this locally sourced?

[Kristen Bell]

Is non G. Look, I'm at. I'm with you 100%. I got nothing against frozen shrimp. In fact, I actually. This is going to be controversial. I love a lobster roll. My mom's whole side of the family is from New England. I love a lobster roll.

[Dan Pashman]

Oh, I love a lobster roll.

[Kristen Bell]

Now, I actually like lobster rolls better when they're made with frozen lobster meat than with fresh, pre frozen. What I talked to.

[Dan Pashman]

You don't want the lobster just right after it was fighting for its life.

[Kristen Bell]

No.

[Dan Pashman]

Because you don't want it freshly murdered and on the bun.

[Kristen Bell]

No, I wanted to have time to think about what it did. Lacy.

[Dan Pashman]

You want cryo lobster?

[Kristen Bell]

You know, I find that the meat is more tender after it's been frozen. And I think that when it's fresh lobster, it's a little bit kind of chewier and slimier. And I don't like that texture quite as much. It does have more flavor, but, like, honestly, I don't love the flavor of lobster. Doesn't have a ton of flavor. I want that. That soft and tender texture with that brininess, and then with the mayo and then the buttery lobster roll. Like, that's what I'm here for, is.

[Dan Pashman]

That combination mayo roll. So maybe that makes a difference. I like. I like it with butter and. And that's a lemon, and that's it. And I like my lobster, like, freshly traumatized. I wanted to just still be saying, hell, like, when they put it down on a plate, I want to taste the trauma of it just went in the boiling water. It's hot. Yeah, so. But I understand.

[Kristen Bell]

But the point I'm making is, like, I'm not judging people who are serving imported shrimp or frozen shrimp or whatever. I'll eat it all. And I love all of it. I'm just saying that, like, places should be honest about what they're serving.

[Dan Pashman]

I don't even ask. And now I feel like if you're a foodie out there, we just gave you something very annoying for you to do at a restaurant. Like, you can now go in a restaurant and be like, is this really from the Gulf?

[Kristen Bell]

And if they say yes, you break out your testing kit.

[Dan Pashman]

You break out your testing kit. Okay. And you get your syringe out, you put your doctor's coat on over your Hanes T shirt.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

You put your doctor's coat on over the shirt you bought in the airport that says, like, all I got was this lousy T shirt. And then you get to work as a sign.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right.

[Dan Pashman]

Get a paper hat, too, and put it on the side. Let the girls know that you really know shrimp. We all know. Now we can all be a connoisseur. Isn't there anything better than being a connoisseur? I love people who are, like, mild alcoholics who are like, oh, the tannins, the. The. The stone fruits. And it's like you wine tasting every day.

[Kristen Bell]

That's.

[Dan Pashman]

You know, but that's. That's cool. Live your life. But yes, again, to reiterate, it's against FDA regulations and federal law, so it puts customers higher risk of consuming tainted foods. No. Shrimp containing antibiotics is supposed to be sold in the US According to law. But farm shrimp from India and Vietnam tend to contain antibiotics. So if you're allergic to something in the antibiotic family, and then you get a bucket of antibiotic fried, that might be a problem. I don't want to eat fried amoxicillin. So I understand.

[Kristen Bell]

I mean, amoxicillin is delicious, though.

[Dan Pashman]

We should say, I always wanted so tasty.

[Kristen Bell]

I always wanted there to be an amoxicillin ice cream flavor.

[Dan Pashman]

Hey, hey, hey. Don't give people ideas, okay? We already got charcoal. Activated charcoal.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right.

[Dan Pashman]

Why not antibiotics? They may not be harmful in small doses to consumers, but overusing them globally results in super bacteria that resists all drugs. Horrible. Hmm. That's one for the anti vaxxers. Y'all stop eating that shrimp. Yeah, so. Plus, the fakery is killing the American shrimp industry, which brings in more than a billion dollars to Louisiana each year alone. The low cost of important, like, imported shrimp from countries like India and Vietnam and Ecuador is sinking local fishermen and women who cannot compete with the lower prices in the antibiotics. John Williams, the executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. They got an alliance. People really care about shrimp. I didn't. They got an alliance. They got a seedy organization that investigates. They got lab coats. Damn. Shrimp is big business. This reminds me of, like, Bubba Gump shrimp. I don't know why I'm going to. What's that Tom Hanks running movie?

[Kristen Bell]

Oh, Forrest Gump.

[Dan Pashman]

Yeah, Forrest Gump. You know how people describe it as the Tom Hanks running movie? I'm accurate, so, yeah, I Did not know shrimp was like this. Now I feel like there's like a shrimp mob. Like, people are out on the docks, like, breaking knees for you. Shrimping on my turf.

[Kristen Bell]

Well, I'll tell you something, Lacy. This is kind of what I consider kind of a red flag as someone who is on the lookout for scams, which is like, when something is too abundant, you have to ask yourself, like, shrimp are small. So you get a plate of shrimp. There could be a lot of shrimp on there. There's shrimp in so many restaurants in so many places all over America. Like, how do we get this many shrimp? You know? And it's sort of like they can't all possibly have been caught just in the Gulf of Mexico. Like, there couldn't be enough shrimp there. I haven't crunched the details of the numbers, but just like on a pure.

[Dan Pashman]

Gut shell, this is a documentary now.

[Kristen Bell]

Like, just on a gut check level. Like, I'm sort of like, huh, what? You know, like, there's a farm down the street from me where I live outside New York City here. And they sell, they have chicken. They have chickens running all around the farm. And they have eggs, the fresh laid eggs to chickens. I sometimes will buy chicken there because I like to support them, even though it's kind of expensive. One time I was kind of last minute, I had friends coming over. I said, you know, I need 16 chicken thighs. I called him up, I said, you guys have 16 chicken thighs? He was like, yeah, no problem. We'll wrap them up for you. They'll be ready in 10 minutes. And I went and picked them up and left. And I thought to myself, because I had always assumed that the chicken that they were selling there was like, the chickens that you see playing out there in their front yard. Like, this is the most local possible chicken you can.

[Dan Pashman]

I thought that as soon as you ordered 16 chicken thighs, someone was like, yeah, they broke their neck.

[Kristen Bell]

I thought I heard them sharpening the hatchet in the background. And I was like. And I was like, wait a second. That was too much chicken, too fast. Like, how do they have this many thighs? And then the next time I said. I asked them, and they said, oh, no, the chickens that you see running around here, they lay the eggs, but we actually get our chicken. They said it comes from a farm in upstate New York where they have more space. Which. Which may be true, I don't know, but it was that same sort of Spidey sense of, like, wait a second, like, this math doesn't really make sense that how could they have this many thighs ready if the chickens are coming from?

[Dan Pashman]

Well, if I tell you I'm selling chicken and you don't see the. Them running around like, then something is amiss. Like you got to have the vibes. You got to have the accoutrement.

[Kristen Bell]

They had the vibes. They had. They. There's a red barn. There's chickens running all around the parking lot.

[Dan Pashman]

The barn gotta be red. So I'm not with no brown barn.

[Kristen Bell]

It's. It's like right out of the, you know, exactly what you would picture. They got a little pond there. The chickens are in their coop and all that. So I'm like, well, this must be where the chickens coming from. It's local chicken. I'm supporting this local farm. Local chicken. And then it turns out it's coming from, you know, 10 hours away or whatever.

[Dan Pashman]

So it is, it does feel deceitful because it's like, I thought I was local. Like you wanted local. And they were like, no, we actually get this from upstate. I want to go to a chicken farm that's like mid century modern. Like all glass windows. They're like, no, no, no, no. We make the chicken here. We. It's local. Yeah, so I understand what you're saying.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

So the director of the Southern Shrimp alliance, which represents shrimpers in multiple states, said family owned shrimp businesses operating out of the port of Tampa are struggling to survive while local restaurants bamboozled customers into thinking locally caught sh being served. So remember, Tampa was down bad. I'm not surprised by that. Is Florida, Florida going to do crime? Florida going Florida, Florida, man. Go on. Florida scam. That's what they do. And so 96% of their shrimp failed the test, like the litmus test of like real Gulf shrimp and I. And it's killing the real girls in the town. So here's how serious the problem is, according to founder of Seed. And we have a little video here of this. This. So this is a real problem, y'all. Like, this is harming communities.

[Lacey Mosley]

The communities are being hollowed out, the infrastructure's slowly dying and a whole culture is being destroyed, not the culture or extremely damaged by the effects of this substitution.

[Dan Pashman]

Damn. So this is destroying the culture, what they're doing. And both Louisiana and Alabama have new laws requiring restaurants to sell imported shrimp to, if they sell imported shrimp to include a notice on their menus telling customers the shrimp is imported and listing the country of origin. So they said, if you're going to import, you got to tell people about it. And that's good for the customers because then you're not paying that premium price because we are all informed. So this has been going on forever. There's been similar genetic studies that have found fish bakery all over the menu beyond just. In 2019, DNA tests showed that about 21% of the fish researchers sampled was not called what it was on the menu. Sea bass was mislabeled 55% of the time. And you know, they mark up some sea bass. Okay. Snapper was mislabeled 42% of the time. Now that's making me think of sushi restaurants. And I love me a little red snapper. So this is pissing me off. So instead of sea bass, they get giant perch or Nile tilapia fish, which you can go catch them in the location. And the fish will be less expensive and lower quality. So they're just out here faking the funk and making you pay more for the fish. So I can tell the difference between tilapia, carpies and sea bass. Cause I'm country, so you can't put a catfish on my plate and tell me it's sea bass. Like, don't play in my face. Supposed Dover sole was actually walleye fish. Fake snapper was actually something called lavender jelly job fish. And a 2017 investigation of the mislabeling problem in Los Angeles sushi restaurants. Now that this is hidden close to home. Not manobu. They found that 47% of the fish tested was mislabeled. One famous mystery remains unsolved. And it involves a multi year legal battle over subway to. So we all owe Jessica Simpson an apology because maybe it was chicken.

[Kristen Bell]

I gotta say, Lacy, I'm realizing now that I might act. I have. I'm guilty of attempted fish fraud.

[Dan Pashman]

No. Wow.

[Kristen Bell]

Yes. Because my wife loves some flounder, but the flounder at the fish market is like the most expensive of the flaky white fish. So I'll be like, oh, I'll just get some tilapia. Oh, I'll just get some cod. I'll get this other one. So you're scamming your wife and maybe you know. Cause it's like half the the price. The flounder is like $20 a pound. And she loves her flounder, but she doesn't.

[Dan Pashman]

Now I know why she was down in your Cascatella. I think she believes in you as a person and a husband. Y'all been married for 15 years. But when it comes to food, you done scammed her out of that fishing. She was a good Wife and was like, ooh, this flounder is so good. Just like from Nemo.

[Kristen Bell]

But she knew.

[Dan Pashman]

She knew.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, she. No, she. She can tell the difference. She. She.

[Dan Pashman]

She. But made this special pasta. That's amazing. She was like, you can't make that pasta.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right.

[Dan Pashman]

Because you done lot fish frauded me our whole marriage.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

So the Subway tuna fraud basically is that people didn't know if the tuna in the Subway sandwich was actually tuna. And that had been a question dogging customers in the world's largest chain restaurant since 2021. And, you know, tuna's a big sell there. They put a lot of it on there. Like, I wouldn't be surprised. There were other rumors about sub making bread with Styrofoam. Like, they Subways had some tough times when it comes to pr. We all remember Jared, and we want to forget him. So Subway defended itself, insisted it only used high quality, premium, 100% real tuna. And they even launched a website called Subway Tuna Facts dot com. I'm sorry if you have to do all of that. I'm curious if it's really tuna. That's like. That's. That's, like, when companies come out. Like, I remember McDonald's coming out with a nugget ad, and they were like, all white meat. And we were like, well, what was it? But what was it before?

[Kristen Bell]

Because why are you telling us?

[Dan Pashman]

I was like, I have a clothing shop. And we're like, all real clothes. Definitely real.

[Kristen Bell]

Right, right, right.

[Dan Pashman]

Go to our website.

[Kristen Bell]

All the shirts have two arms.

[Dan Pashman]

Literally, all the shirts have two arms. Don't go to our website.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, okay. Right, right, right. Lacy, shop shirts.com and see the real facts.

[Dan Pashman]

Yeah, because that's a propaganda out there about us. The New York Times got involved and they published an investigation after the lawsuit was filed in 2021, wherein a reporter sent in some Subway tuna to a food testing lab that found either Subway's tuna was so processed that any amounts couldn't be found by testing or that a substance other than the fish was being used in the sandwich. So it's been processed so much that we don't even know if it's tuna, or they got some Funa up in there. They were like, you said tuna. Oh, we thought you said Funa.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, yeah. No, we got the best Funa around, though.

[Dan Pashman]

Plaintiffs said that they had severe morning sickness and debilitating conditions. Just put what you put in the food, guys. Like, please, like, don't have us have the food brigade come in and test Right. So I want to do this scammer of the week real quickly with you, Dan, because we're about to run out of time.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah.

[Dan Pashman]

So in Pennsylvania, thieves stole $40,000 worth of eggs from the back of a distribution trailer on February 1st. This happened this year. The culprits got away with 100,000 eggs.

[Kristen Bell]

Wow.

[Dan Pashman]

That's $40,000 now. 100,000 eggs.

[Kristen Bell]

I feel like it's more than that, right?

[Dan Pashman]

I feel like that's like a million dollar heist now.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, really?

[Dan Pashman]

Also, the fact that we're heisting eggs really shows where our economy is. Like Ocean's Eleven used to be like we go break into the museum and get the diamond or some shit.

[Kristen Bell]

Right.

[Dan Pashman]

And now, now it's egg heists. Now it's like we got people on the inside of Pepperidge Farms.

[Kristen Bell]

I'm trying to do some quick math here. So, like, if you can. Right now, if you can get a dozen eggs for $4, you're doing okay, right?

[Dan Pashman]

I've been seeing six.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, I've seen six, seven. Trader Joe's has them for three and change. That's where we've been getting ours. But so let's say to pick it up in the middle, you get a four dollar dozen of eggs. That's 33 cents an egg times 100,000 eggs. Eggs he got. It's, you know. You said $40,000 worth of eggs.

[Dan Pashman]

Yes, that's what they say.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, that's about right.

[Dan Pashman]

Okay, but the, but a full trailer of like large eggs is actually worth around 150,000 to $200,000. So you're right. Like if they got a full trailer, it's worth way more. Eggs are one of the hottest commodities right now in the country. Also, with bird flu spinning the block, hens aren't really giving like they used to. And we know that egg prices have gone up. I, I'm not shocked that people are stealing eggs. Waffle house alone serves 700. Waffle House alone serves 272 million eggs per year.

[Kristen Bell]

Wow.

[Dan Pashman]

Making it the chain's most ordered item. Over hash browns, which is like 153 million. Even over waffles, which is 124 million. Everybody's getting eggs at the Waffle House. They're getting eggs and a beat down, like. And now they're gonna be in there fighting over the eggs.

[Kristen Bell]

And Waffle House added a surcharge to all their egg items.

[Dan Pashman]

Did they?

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, they added a surcharge because the prices have gone up so much. If you order eggs at Waffle House, right now, there's a surcharge.

[Dan Pashman]

Now, if I fight the chef, can I get the regular price?

[Kristen Bell]

Depends on whether or not you win.

[Dan Pashman]

I feel like if you win a fight with the chef while they're cooking, they gotta give them to you a regular price.

[Kristen Bell]

I think that's very fair.

[Dan Pashman]

That's like a coupon at Waffle House. If you beat it. If you beat up an employee. That's right.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, yeah. Free with one ass whooping.

[Dan Pashman]

If you beat us up, your meal is free. You know, they would have places like, if you eat the whole, like 50 pound steak, it's free. Yeah. No, I feel like Waffle House needs to have a new policy. They're like, come on in, right? It's fight night Friday at Waffle House. If you beat up a worker, your meal is free.

[Kristen Bell]

That's right.

[Dan Pashman]

You won't, though. That's why they stay in business, because you won't. They literally go to UFC and like, they're like, look, once you end your career here, there's a place for you at Waffle House. You'll never have to worry about working. Okay. But, Dan, this has been so lovely. Thank you so much for being here.

[Kristen Bell]

Thank you. Thanks so much for having me. Now I want to go eat some shrimp.

[Dan Pashman]

Oh, my goodness. I do too. We always ask on this podcast, where would you like to be found?

[Kristen Bell]

Oh, check out the Sporkful podcast. Anywhere you get your podcast. If you like stories about food, if you love to eat, if you want to come hang out. My pasta shaped Cascatelli is in some stores, or you can order it online from Sfolini, which is the company that makes it. That's S F O G L N I dot com. And yeah, my cookbook is. Anything's possible.

[Dan Pashman]

Yes, we will be getting into all of that. Well, thank you so much, Dan. I really appreciate your insight. And your pasta is bomb. So congratulations. I gotta follow you so I can see what's going on in Italy when you take people on this tour. Because I'm very interested.

[Kristen Bell]

Yeah, yeah, do it. Yeah. On Instagram, I'm at the Sporkful.

[Dan Pashman]

At the Sporkful. Okay. I'm putting that in my phone right now.

[Kristen Bell]

All right. Thanks, Lacey. Appreciate it.

[Dan Pashman]

And if you wanna follow me, D I V A L A C I Divalacy on all platforms to get into my shenanigans. And if you wanna see the photos from this episode, and I know y'all do, because you harass me about them. Scam got us pod on Instagram. If you wanna talk to me personally. Scam Goddesspod on Twitter, I will not call it X because that's not what its mama named him. Okay, listen, y'all know I got Scam Goddess TV show out right now on Hulu. You can stream all of the episodes going Dutch from Fox. Airs on Fox but also next day Hulu. If you want to see me as a military scammer, so get into that as well. And my book Scam Goddess is available online and also in bookstores near your area. Get into the Scams. They are all different. I know I gave them the same name that's the scam. But they're all different so get inspired to it. Congregation, Stay scrapping. This has been an earwolf production in association with Team Coco. Scam got us stars and is hosted by me, Lacey Mosley, AKA Scam Goddess. Our producer is Jessica Cisneros and our audio engineer is Rich Garcia. Research for the show is conducted by Kate Doyle. Stay scheming.

[Lacey Mosley]

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