A non-profit organization in South Carolina, USA is suing 25 local restaurants, accusing them of falsely claiming to provide customers with local fresh shrimp when in reality, they serve imported frozen shrimp.
According to federal lawsuit documents obtained by USA TODAY and PEOPLE, The South Carolina Shrimpers Association filed a lawsuit in state court on June 13th, alleging that the 25 restaurants falsely represented the origin of the shrimp they claimed to offer to customers, making “false and misleading statements” about the shrimp’s source.
The court documents show that the Shrimpers Association accuses these restaurants of deception, claiming that the shrimp served on their tables are “caught or farmed far from the coast of South Carolina, often imported frozen shrimp from other countries.”
The lawsuit alleges that these 25 restaurants have been falsely reporting the origin of shrimp, damaging the reputation of the Shrimpers Association for providing high-quality local products.
The lawsuit points out that the local shrimp industry is at the core of the cultural identity of the Low Country region of the U.S., playing a crucial role in South Carolina’s tourism industry and contributing billions of dollars in economic activity to the state. The Low Country refers to the coastal lowlands of South Carolina and Georgia.
These restaurants are accused of intentionally mixing up the Shrimpers Association’s locally farmed “high-quality products” with inferior, far-off sourced products, tarnishing the state’s reputation.
The leaders of the Shrimpers Association announced this lawsuit on July 2nd at the Pineapple Fountain in downtown Charleston.
Bryan Jones, Vice President of the Shrimpers Association, stated on WCSC and ABC 4 News that the fountain symbolizes the core values of sincerity and honest welcoming of customers by South Carolina shrimp farmers.
“We believe that when we invite family, friends, and valued guests to our Low Country region, they should receive the most authentic and pure experience – here, it means our delicious, unique wild South Carolina shrimp,” Jones said.
Earlier this year, the food safety technology company “SeaD Consulting” discovered a significant number of restaurants in cities like Baton Rouge in Louisiana, Biloxi in Mississippi, Galveston in Texas, and Tampa Bay in Florida falsely claiming to provide customers with local fresh shrimp, when in reality, these shrimp were farmed abroad and imported to the U.S.
SeaD Consulting’s data also shows that Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg in Florida are among the cities with the highest “shrimp fraud rates,” with rates as high as 96%. The research found that out of 44 surveyed restaurants, only two provided authentic shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico.