DoctorOz: Fresh vs. Frozen Fish - Can You Taste the Difference? | Oz Health

We'll save lives today. You guys ready to get healthy? For the first time ever, we are taking over your supermarket. I sent an elite team of the ultimate food insiders to uncover the truth behind the foods you're buying. We are breaking down the overwhelming yogurt aisle. So much to choose from. And we're going to find out the truth about your bagged produce. That's there too. And then an investigation about how to decode the seafood case like a pro. So grab your shopping list and get ready for the ultimate supermarket takeover. I'm taking on the one location you ask me questions about constantly. The supermarket. And to give you expert advice, I brought in three of the biggest names in food and sent them to New York's iconic Cinderella Market. Buying yogurt shouldn't be overwhelming. I've got tons of tips for you to make sure your next yogurt purchase is stress free. Shopping for seafood can be like learning a foreign language. Today, I decode it for you. Do you ever get nervous or confused when you're picking out your vegetables? And what about whole versus pre-cut? After today, you're going to be an expert at vetting veggies. Everything you need to know before you put another thing in your cart. And to top it all off, the cook off you won't find anywhere else. Chefs Rocco and Roble go head to head with the ultimate dish using secret ingredients anyone can find in their supermarket. And it all starts right now. I investigated every single aisle, every shelf of the supermarket. What was the most confusing section? You only get one choice. Without a doubt, it's the seafood section. It's the Bermuda Triangle of the supermarket. Too many choices, people get confused. There's so many different kinds of fish and shellfish. It's not like beef or chicken where it all comes from one animal. And then it's presented in so many different ways people are overwhelmed. Yeah, all kinds of names they throw out to try to confuse you, I think. Anyway, Larry, along with Chef Roble, took over the seafood case. Here's what they found. Shopping for seafood can be very intimidating. There are hundreds of different species. They come from all over the world. They're prepped differently. It's confusing. So this is why Larry and I are teaming up to decode this whole seafood section so you picking out your favorite fish doesn't leave you drowning in questions. First up, wild-caught fish versus farm-raised fish. Larry here literally wrote the book on it. Can you break it down for him? Sure, I'd love to. Farm-raised fish typically have more fat in their diet, making them a little more tender. But does this make them less healthy? The answer is no, as long as the farm-raised fish is domestic. So unless you really prefer the taste of wild-caught, the domestic farm-raised is going to save you a few extra dollars. Next up, imported versus domestic. A lot of the seafood in this country comes from overseas. Does it make a difference, Chef? Absolutely. Here's why. There are some concerns that fish coming from places like China contain antibiotics used to keep the fish healthy. You don't want all those antibiotics in your food. So to avoid all that, it's best to stay domestic. One of the questions I get all the time is fresh or frozen. But what most people don't realize is that a lot of the seafood in the supermarket has been frozen at some point, usually on a boat. Unless you're getting your fish straight off the dock or at a gourmet market like this, there's a good chance it's been frozen at some point. Freezing fish is not always a bad thing. You have to think about it like this. When that fish is frozen, any possible parasites that could be in the fish are frozen as well, and they're gone. So the question is, which one do you buy? Only buy thawed fish if you plan on cooking it immediately. Otherwise, go with the frozen fish, which stays fresh until you decide to thaw it. And make sure to look for labels like frozen fresh or fresh frozen, because that means the fish was frozen very quickly after being caught to maximize its quality. So Larry, the real question is, can you taste the difference between a thawed piece of fish or a fresh, never frozen piece of fish? I think I can. How about you, Dr. Oz? Let's find out. So Larry and Chef Robly are here with the taste test, Jax, Anthea, and Jacqueline. They are fish lovers. They think they can tell the difference between the fresh and the frozen. They have been tasting. I've been tasting. Larry's been tasting. Now we're going to offer our thoughts. So one of these is frozen, and one of these that you're tasting is actually the freshest fish, literally, that we could find. Can you tell the difference? Jax, you going first? I think the one on the green plate, the texture seems a little smoother, so I feel like maybe it was less likely to be frozen and thawed. And it tastes a little better? It's hard to tell. It's very similar. They are similar. So you're going for green, but you're not sure. So which one, Anthea, are you going for? I think this one is fresh. The blue. The blue. So we got a split vote. Jacqueline, can you break a tie here? I'm going blue plate is fresh. It melts in my mouth. Versus the green plate. I'm going with green plate. We don't know at all, Larry. I think it's blue. We actually don't know, so give us the answer. Okay, very, very interesting. Okay, so the blue was the frozen. Yes! Yes! Of course we got it. And the green is the fresh. I was guessing. I don't think any of us really know. Anthea didn't know. We're all pretty honest about it. We didn't know. It's tough. That's all quality fish. But here's the thing that I'm surprised by. I always thought if I bought frozen fish, I would always be able to tell the difference. And now we all know, for everybody out there, frozen can be as good as fresh, so that's why you should, I think, save a little bit of money. Good opportunity. All right, come over here. You did some investigative work on many of the supermarket ideas out there, and there's one trick that you say has become commonplace, and we have probably all fallen for it. So walk us through this. Well, let me ask you, Dr. Oz, can you tell which of these fillets is red snapper? Just from this? Yep. No. I mean, I can tell from the fish, but I can't tell from the... This is the red snapper. Did you guys know that? You're as confused as me, right? Most of you. And this one is tilapia. And most of the time, you go to the supermarket, and you buy red snapper, which is an expensive fish, you're not getting red snapper. Studies have shown 80% to 90% of the time, it's substituted for something cheaper. 80% to 90%? 80% to 90%. Yeah, but if it was an honest error, it should be 50-50. Yeah, it's not an honest error. It's fraud. It's so bad that President Obama had to appoint a task force to combat seafood fraud two years ago. So what's the price difference between these fish? It can be very substantial. Usually $10 a pound or more. $10 a pound? That's big-time fraud. It is. People are really being duped by this. And the solution is choose from whole fish. Right in front of you. That's a wonderful tip. Actually, I'm very upset. I thought it was an accident that was happening. Not an accident. I thought the fraud was happening when they actually caught the fish. You're saying it's actually happening once it gets to the store a lot of times. Yeah, most of it, according to the FDA, happens at retail or in restaurants. And it's not just Red Snapper. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss out on new videos to live the good life.