(The Center Square) — For the second straight year, every food vendor at the Louisiana Shrimp Festival & Shrimp Aid in New Orleans was verified as serving local, wild-caught Gulf shrimp, according to on-site genetic testing conducted during the mid-October event.
SeaD Consulting, which markets a rapid DNA test called RIGHTTest, said its technicians sampled each vendor and returned results in under two hours.
The company reported 100% compliance at the festival — a notable contrast from last year when it found widespread mislabeling of imported, farm-raised shrimp as “Gulf-caught” at other southern festivals.
Following those findings, the National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores added a “chief shrimp investigator” and hired SeaD to test vendors, with fines and temporary sales bans for noncompliance. SeaD said a round of testing prompted by rumors at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival this year found one vendor out of compliance.
“It’s hard to believe that we have to ensure compliance through genetic testing, but here we are,” said chef and advocate Dana Honn, who helps organize Shrimp Aid. He framed the verification push as an answer to a flood of imports that, he says, has battered Louisiana shrimpers.
