Comments on: Don’t Eat this fish: Pangas (Pangasius, Vietnamese River Cobbler, White Catfish, Gray Sole)

By: steve mann

steve mann — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:23:58 +0000

Have been buying this fish from Tesco for about 6 months now. on a weekly basis.
All I can tell you as a family of 3 , none of us have had any ill effects- However will watch and wait.

By: mikki

mikki — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:46:35 +0000

hi. im really confused. But most of the people of the people who contradicted the article seem to have more credible background info.

i’m from the philippines and this entry was passed through email. but in ours, they added dory to the list. i dont really know much about fish cause im just 20 and i don’t buy them..but i do eat them so this concerns me.

its just so confusing because aren’t dories and gray sole different from pangas anyway?

and since the china milk industry is still an issue here, i just really want to be careful.

so, is this entry just really a hoax? these fish are still safe to eat?

By: kelly lockyer

kelly lockyer — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:26:18 +0000

i ate this fish yesterday. to my suprise this was the BEST fish i have ever eaten, much to my suprise as i mainly only eat sea food. Now Tesco WOULD NOT sell this fish if indeed it was harmful to eat. Please dont listen to the rubbish spouted on here the fish is fine to eat and by god the best fish ive EVER eaten.At the end of the day the people writing bad comments are probebly animal rights campainers, i think you should worry more about kfc(who boil the birds alive and break their necks) than this fish. JUST TO ADD IM FEALING BETTER THAN EVER AFTER HAVING A GREAT TASTY MEAL.

By: Em

Em — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:10:59 +0000

I ate this fish (bought in Tesco) for the first time last night and two or three hours later started to feel really, really ill. I felt extremely nauseous, passed out, came round but couldn’t speak, and finally threw up violently. I eat a lot of fish but have never had a reaction like this. Either that fish was polluted in some way or it is more likely than other similar fish to cause allergies. My friend ate the other fish in the two-pack we bought and was absolutely fine, which makes me think that an allergy is more likely.
To the people above who said “You didn’t cook it properly” etc, etc - don’t be so patronising. My fish was kept properly, cooked properly and I have a food hygiene certificate due to my job. The problem wasn’t me, it was the fish. I will NEVER eat this fish again.
I wish someone would do more research into the number of violent reactions to this because there’s obviously something strange here. I’m still not feeling right today and I honestly thought I might have to call an ambulance last night - and I wouldn’t do that unless I was really ill. I was scared - it was a horrible, horrible feeling.

By: James

James — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:12:31 +0000

my family has eaten this fish twice now and both times my wife has become very ill and spent hours vomitting about two hours after eating it. I seem to be ok but I am really worried about her as she is 38 weeks pregnant. I think this factor may make her more susceptable to the poisons in this fish. Off to the hospital again - she will probably spend another day on a drip. The first time they told us it was gastroenteritus but could find no sign in the tests they did. My guess is it is some kind of chemical poisoning. Feel like writing “Toxic” on all there pretty packages… Be careful out there!

By: chumpman

chumpman — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:20:45 +0000

this is freaky. my gf love fish and so do i. the fisheries should be shut down and not have these fishes being abused that way. so cruel and inhumane! all for the dirty money

By: raquel

raquel — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:25:08 +0000

I wanted to make it for dinner tonight and i didn’t get it from TESCO. It says it’s imported from Vietnam. I’m worried! Is it ok if i eat it coming from there?

By: lew

lew — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:42:02 +0000

they just started selling this fish at Winn/Dixie.
tasty and cheep! better then chicken!

By: Gordon Garrett

Gordon Garrett — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 09:29:20 +0000

I bought this fish friday and ate it yesterday absolutely lovely lightly dusted with herbs and crumbs and no ill effects whatsoever shall definetly buy again

By: Dino

Dino — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:03:06 +0000

i’m a dickhead so read further and you will laugh!! Oh no we’re all about to be poisoned by this fish. The free world as we know it will be gone by Christmas!! LMAO really think about what you are saying, anyway got to go cus i am cooking man o war for tea tonight for my family with a little poison ivy and toadstool.

By: FISHY

FISHY — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:26:02 +0000

I ate his fish and i died!

By: andy baird

andy baird — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:19:52 +0000

had some tonight with the old man and it was stunning.some of you buggers on here who have nothing better to do except put down the economic values of the uk should move to bloody vietnam!!!

By: jane

jane — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:39:24 +0000

i had this fish for my dinner today i also had it last week and iv been fine i think its just a coinsidense that some people have been sick after eating it, they probably had a tummy bug.

By: h.campling

h.campling — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:39:48 +0000

have just purchased lightly dusted river cobbler from tescos,and the label clearly states its farmed in vietnam

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:53:10 +0000

What a load of unsubstantiated bollocks and scaremongering.
If you are going to make claims such as this I’d prefer to see the scientific studies and results that bear them out than your wild allegations based upon opinion.

I’ve just finished some lovely Tesco cobbler which I poached in milk and butter. It was excellent as it always is thanks.

By: DAYTIME

DAYTIME — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:11:56 +0000

Never assume; also question, scrutinize, and research. Think critically: This photo op of someone literally injecting an individual fish with “something” bad makes an idiot out of anyone who does not think logically. How is it possible that these 500,000 farmed fish raised in just 4 months are injected one at a time, apparently on a guerney or hospital-type stretcher to give the appearance of a medical experiment of some kind-PLEASE! Don’t insult our intelligence with such obvious mental trickery. If this site were legitimate as well as carefully researched, there would be a more objective presentation, or at least a less obvious staging of this superficial “imagery.” We need special classes taught on critical thinking in our educational system, as this skill just doesn’t seem to be naturally intuitive to the masses.

By: cobbler rocks

cobbler rocks — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:21:12 +0000

The River Cobbler that anyone has bought from Tesco on this blog is farmed in the UK, and is perfectly safe to eat.

By: Carrot

Carrot — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 18:26:10 +0000

To Richard, I say: “I’d be more worried about you local F&C”.

To most of you, I say: If you feel you can trust the “governmental QC (no, not Queens Council”) on imported food, Eat and be merry! If you however, have any doubt, emigrate!

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:06:53 +0000

I had panga the last two saturdays 18 and 25 october 2008 served up by my local fish & chip shop violently ill on both occasions admitted to hospital on the 26 october after collapsing early morning due to dehydration, because i had lost so much fluid vomiting & diaorhea.Spent three days in hospital on a drip being rehydrated.
I for one will never touch this fish ever again.

By: Daniela

Daniela — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:27:41 +0000

I’m from Romania and indeed this pangasius fish is also very cheep in our supermarkets.it has althought a good taste but it is suspiciously very greasy for a file fish.i wasn’t feeling bad after eating it but…after what I’ve read up on this page….I’ll walk away from this one..an the fish sector.

By: Rychard

Rychard — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:31:59 +0000

I am shocked that people are kind of missing the point here, firstly I am unsuprised that some people have had ill effects from the consumption of this fish as many people will show allergic and sometimes violent reactions from the strangest of food stuffs, mine is (oddly) white chocolate.
Also it is NOT unusual for consumers to develop gastroenteritis of varying severity from eating ANYTHING from a deli-style counter, I have eaten (at the same sitting) scallops and Bream from a Sainsbury’s fish counter and developed mild gastro-intestinal sickness from the scallops but not the bream, this was confirmed by my GP as I was able to provide samples of both.
I am shocked however that people are not up in arms about the HUGE carbon footprint the farming of this food creates, also I’m shocked that people are not outraged that farming of alien species (that is species not native to their country) is allowed to happen in their country, there is a HUGE problem when these “invaders” escape into the local environment and happens ALL the time and is often IMPOSSIBLE to rectify for example (In the UK) Red Signal Crayfish, who have decimated the native species as they are more voracious and agressive (see Charles Darwin’s “Survival of the fittest”).
You DO have a choice, when shopping ASK where the “fresh” food you are about to by has been sourced from, if it’s anywhere outside of your home country, or for those of you in the States, if it takes longer than 4 hours to ship it simply say “No thank you”. Food shipped from overseas as tempting as it may be is NOT “fresh” by any stretch of the imagination and you’d be suprised at the other VERY delicious and CHEAP foods your native land has to offer, for consumers in the UK I beg you to try Tub Gurnard, it’s a fish with a face only a mother could love but it is SO tasty and VERY affordable (I know of a fishmongers in Devon that retail this at £6 per kilo)
I urge you all to buy local and try something new that you never knew existed, ASK your local butcher, fishmonger, greengrocer about local foods, more affordable foods and how to prepare them, you’d be suprised at how happy to help these folks are especially as you’ll be showing an interest in something that they are PASSIONATE about.
I also ask all readers to check out this news article on carbon footprints and how countrys must stop relying on other nations to support their consumption.
http://environment.uk.msn.com/climate-change/article.aspx?cp-documentid=10472974

By: Guy

Guy — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:00:56 +0000

Apart from all the environmental reasons for not eating either wild or farmed fish, and apart from the possible risks to my health through the eating of contaminated fish, I would not eat this fish again (I tried it once)anyway; it hardly tastes like fish. It is the fish equivalent of battery chickens - tasteless.

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:23:52 +0000

Only just seen this article - but have been buying and eating Pangasius in Belgium for last 4 years to no ill effect. It has aways been a standard choice at all the fish stalls in the local markets

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:03:43 +0000

Due to customer demand ASDA now stocks Cobbler, However its not that much cheaper than Cod or Haddock.

By: shazza

shazza — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:36:13 +0000

my husband eats this fish at least twice a week. He bakes it with butter, salt and pepper. He has never suffered any ill effects from this.I will continue to buy this fish, as he prefers the texture of this fish.

By: Alessandra

Alessandra — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:25:55 +0000

I have sold thousands of kilos of this fish since february of this year and never since received any complaints about it. in fact, people have been ordering more since everyone who has tried it, loves it! it seems that most people who have had bad experiences from this fish have purchased from tesco. maybe you should check their sanitary standards. i think it is a storage issue. here in the philippines, everyone loves it! however, sites like these really have a way of scaring gullible people. i have had a number of inquiries about these ill-effects and some who are already thinking twice about it. I wish someone would come out in the news and speak about this wonderful product!

By: Janine

Janine — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:41:01 +0000

Bought 2 lovely looking fillets from ASDA today.Pale pinky white flesh, no suspicious smell when raw. It’s just been cooked in butter, garlic and ginger and it looks great, but after reading this lot, I’m ringing ASDA right now to ask where they got it from. The lady who served me said it was farmed in Vietnam and is a cod/haddock alternative. I had never heard of it, and asked if it was indeed a sea fish, but was told ‘No’ I decided to try it anyway, but am worried about giing it to my daughter, so she’s going to have the baked potato we were going to eat it with, and something else! Surely it’s farmed closer to the UK than Vietnam? Will let you all know what ASDA said, and as I write, the oven timer is going off . . . dare I eat some? I don’t know!

By: Jay B.

Jay B. — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:39:37 +0000

YES. Cream Dory is indeed Pangasius. Most of the stocks that you will see in the supermarkets here in the Phil. still come from vietnam (especially the very white fillets). Although our local aquaculture industry is starting to be successful in commercial scale production of Pangasius (cream dory, basa, river cobbler, etc.)and you may have started buying locally grown CREAM DORY fillets (a yellower shade fillet).

Fact: Although vietnam imports seem to be cheaper than locally produced fillet, their products are glazed during their freezing process so you are actually getting only 75 to 80% of the weight in actual meat. The rest is just ice.

I have been in the aquaculture industry for more than 10 years (tilapia, bangus, catfish, etc.) and I have to say that there is nothing different to how Pngasius is being raised or cultured.

The use of hormones to induce spawning in fish species is a technology used worldwide. Did you know that hormones are even used for sex reversal in tilapia? and how long have you been eating tilapia?

Commercial feeds are used to feed fish in aquaculture and use feed formulation technology to ensure a balanced diet for the specie. The use of fishmeal in the diets is but normal if not essential to provide a balanced protein and amino acid profile. fish are naturally carnivores or omnivores so it doesn’t make any difference.

In fact, feed-fed fish are safer in a sense for the raw materials used to manufacture feeds(e.g. plant proteins, animal proteins, grains, etc.) go through a strict quality assurance system and are analysed for salmonella, e. coli, aflatoxins, heavy metal contents, etc. before they are used.

I have to say that this article seems to say a lot about aquaculture without knowing the facts behind the industry. EU and the US have the strictest quality assurance systems in the world when it comes to food and if it passes the retrospective analysis they have in place then there’s nothing that can top that. The US have even heightened their acceptance parameters to protect their local channel catfish industry and still pangasius fillets find their way in their supermarkets.

In the Philippines, the goal of the aquaculture industry is to first, provide the country with top quality products at affordable prices. Second, to be globally compeitive and tap the export market potential in the US and EU. This can be realized through efficient farming. The use of falthering or substandard products, processes and/or raw materials goes against this very principle.

Regards

By: lambstbl

lambstbl — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 23:07:31 +0000

There is such a rave about a particular type of fish in our local groceries here in the city of Manila, Philippines. It doesn’t have the fishy odor and sold packed in fillets. They are labeled CREAM DORY. Are these one and the same type of fish? Please advice because many of my friends and family have been buying this for quite some time already. Thank you

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:51:16 +0000

Me and my girlfriend enjoyed some very tasty river cobbler with chilli, garlic and lime last night. I’ve eaten this fish many times and found it to be delicious each time and have never been ill.

There’s nothing clever about this kind of Daily Mailesque scaremongering. If the food wasn’t safe to eat and didn’t meet strict British and EU guidelines, Tesco and others simply would not be allowed to sell it. Fact.

By: Edward

Edward — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:44:14 +0000

I bought a pack of ‘4 breaded Chunky White Fish’ frozen portions, thinking they were Cod, Got home read the small print, Pangasius fillets ??????, farmed in Vietnam,produced and packed in Poland for Tesco Stores Ltd.

Looked up Pangasius fish, top of the list this site, read site contents. Result, fish in bin,and resolved to read the small print on ANY Tesco product and others. Just do’nt eat King Prawns, re the Daily Mail article !!!!!!! NO trust in any multinational food supplier.

By: edwin

edwin — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:52:36 +0000

whoever wrote the article most probably has not see the Mekong River yet. I will agree that some parts of the river are polluted but Mekong is such a huge river that it extends to other countries. The rate of exchange of water is huge bec of the monsoon rains.

BY the way, they use the same water to irrigate their rice fields..So shall we stop eating rice too?

Hormones- Pls name me a fish specie that is commercially mass produced in hathceries that DOES NOT USE hormones..ALL FISH hatcheries use hormones for faster growth and better egg yield!

THis fish is world’s most popular fish. All shipments out of Vietnam gets tested for anti-biotics, salmonella, E.coli, etc..

Did the person who wrote the article visit any processing plants in Vietnam? Probably not.. I have seen a lot of plants in vietnam. They all have metal detectors that can detect differnt kinds of metal including stainless steel.

Maybe the writer can do tests on panga fillet and salmon and see which fish has higher mercury content?

My family eats it all the time. My 7 year old son loves it and never got sick from eating panga fillet.

By: Rod

Rod — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:42:28 +0000

I am a chef from the Philippines. I have been serving pangasius for 8 months at my restaurant. I eat it myself with a pepper-hoisin sauce after searing and baking. Speaking for myself, I have yet to regurgitate any remnants of intoxicated fish. Speaking for my customers, they keep returning BECAUSE of the tasty almost hard egg white flavored fish.

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:14:08 +0000

Many East Asian and Indo-chinese cultures have survived eating fresh-water fishes for eons. Infact fresh-water fish culture is very much part and parcel of a very stable ecological/agricultural practice the Chinese have developed. Fresh-water fishes are always grown together with pigs and market gardening activities. Vegetative produce goes to feed the people and its waste and surpluses (including water-plants) goes to feed the pigs. Human and animals solid wastes are captured and digested for organic farm fertilizer (manure)before liquid from the waste goes into pond number one. Here the organic liqor fertilizes the water plants and breeds water insects and craetaceas. The roots of the water-plants act as a filter and purifier before water are allow to go to the next pond where fish are reared.The fish feeds on the water insects and more water-plants.Fishes reared are various carp species, cat-fish, snake-heads. giant-geramis and tilapia (originally from Africa)and the fish goes to feed the human beings. What a perfect system! If some of the poor nations can adopt this methods there shouldn’t be any famine in the world. This farming method have fed billions of Chinese and East Asians since God knows when.

These days with land shortages, cat-fishes are grown in concrete tanks between rows of poultry houses in esp. SE Asia. Poultry carcasses are thoroughly boiled down and milled with poultry mesh to form a moist pellet to be fed to the fishes in the tanks. These expensive tank reared fish are sold live to wet markets or dressed to posh restaurants and hotels (maybe exported as well). Nothing is wasted! (the fish trimmings go back to feed other growing fish). How ingenious!

By: Joey

Joey — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:23:58 +0000

Are you saying that the French government is stupid enough to allow its importation without verifying its quality.

With regards to the use of HCG (the hormone used to induce the spawning of the fish is the same hormone used to spawn the salmon, channel catfish and majority of cultured fishes that are induced. It is indeed isolated from the urine of pregnant women and are purified. In fact, if you check this out in your local pharmacy, this is actually a drug used to induce pregnancy in humans. Try checking out these brands of HCG: Pregnyl, Follutein, Profasi, and Novarel.

Female fish injected with HCG in very small doses are not eaten! and never converted to fillet.
Please do your homework to verify facts first before spreading rumors!

By: jun ballesteros

jun ballesteros — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:55:18 +0000

Yup, this type of fish fillet are available in carrefour here in Al-Khobar Saudi Arabia. My wife serve this with vegies soup dish and perfect. It’s a clean fish meat otherwise those people writing against this fish maybe right. On the fish counter what i notice in one this fillet brand”which i suggets everyone should avoid” thers another type that market sells another fish fillet that has a darker red color fish meat which my friend told me cause him to vomit big time and scratch his skin because of eating it. The white meat taste good and weve been comsuming it since last year. Actually Saudi Arabia is also strict when it comes to products that are not Halal that enters the kingdom.

By: nicole n jasmine

nicole n jasmine — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:47:51 +0000

ew man that’s gross

By: Norman

Norman — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:01:23 +0000

I have yet to see any evidence that the claims this article makes are true.

Where are the studies? Where are the facts?

I eat a similar fish called Hammour and have never been ill (unless it’s not cooked properly of course!)

By: ali

ali — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:28:39 +0000

Hi Isabel/Ysmael,
Where did you buy your cobblers? We usually get ours from S&R and so far, none of us in the family have had bad effects with our GastroIntes. My mom just bought a new brand now (not sure how far long).. and I just realized last night that its from Vietnam.. which got me worried. The ones we used to get from S&R are unbranded (I guess S&R packs it themselves)… they seem ok.

By: Vincent

Vincent — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:38:52 +0000

I am french and I also saw this documentary. First it comes from a sensation magazine (not information) on M6. I spent 4 months in Vietnam on Pangasius farm and I can say that some information are totally wrong. Pangasius is omnivorous so it’s like a cow who eat cow, it’s like human who eat meat. A lot of fish are omnivorous or carnivorous, don’t confuse with ruminants!

Then there is no link between pregnant woman urine and hormones which are used for induced spawning. That’s a totally artificial hormone which is also use in Salmon and trout.

I ate panga before going to Vietnam and I continue now, I ate panga directly on the farm, not well cooked and wasn’t ill!

If you find Panga in a supermarket, it passed the same microbiological test than a trout or a tuna. This fish has certainly a lower level of heavy metal than tuna! A lot of documentation on this subject.

For information: Trout and salmon are also fed with pellets based on fish meal and fish oil!

If you want to post a comment which have right infoormation and reference, okay no problem but if it’s just to break a subsidiary, please be kind of stopping it!

By: kswong

kswong — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 06:58:07 +0000

It is a ultra good informations on poluted foods, espoecially those popular ones. I am not going to eat these fish any more and also those products like fish balls, crabs claw etc.
Once my friend told me that in the midst of eating meat floss bought from Siam, while drinking, he discovered a piece of bone looked like the claws of a rat. Since then I never like to take meat or chicken floss any more. In fact there are many food products that contain toxic and heavy metals causing bad health to us. Recently Chinese milk powder is another tinted case.
To avoid ill health, I suggest that we eat more fruits and vegetables every day.

By: ysmael

ysmael — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:29:38 +0000

Is this fish the same as what they call “Cream Dory” in the Philippine market? Cream dory is now very popular in the Philippines and it just taste so good. They are also sold in fillets and i haven’t seen any of it with head that is why I can not tell if it’s the same type of fish.

By: Isabel

Isabel — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:41:20 +0000

I am from the Philippines where this type of fish is selling abundantly in our big groceries. I have been serving this to my family for several months already. So far, i already came up with 3 recipes, all of which my children love, but of course without signs and symptoms of them getting ill.

By: Tammy from Lincolnshire

Tammy from Lincolnshire — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:59:40 +0000

I have just bought some of the River Cobbler, and am looking forward to trying it personally.
This page has been interesting if nothing else.
Comments have been strongly for or against, but no one who became ill after eating this has mentioned whether or not they are allergic to crayfish, shrimp or any other bottom feeding fish.
I come from Louisiana, and was raised on Catfish and assorted shellfish. The people I have met or introduced to catfish, and then had a reaction (i.e. vomiting, rash diarrheao), were all found to have some sort of allergic reaction to bottom feeding fish and crustaceans, but not to other fish like Tuna or Salmon.
Could the simple answer be for all of you who have had problems after eating, that you are just unable to eat this variety???
Either way, I’ll let everyone know whether or not we’ve become ill after trying it.
Watch this space!

By: Khalil

Khalil — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:58:35 +0000

for those who are concerned about this fish having scales or not, it seems not according to the following link:
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-8q0H1LE5dKcT4mEKgeRotg–?cq=1&p=9

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:54:08 +0000

Perhaps if you read the cooking instructions, & ensure you are observing proper hygiene - you may enjoy this fish, as I have, with no ill effects!

By: shirlee

shirlee — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:14:03 +0000

Oh i think Marie stomache got problems on the day she got fishes but not the fishes…we have this fish everyweek and no problems as you said….also please remember that Europe is a strict place where the authority always have the quality procedure & quality check before they could approve for any products to be imported into their countries …please read about the facts and know exactly what kind of fish before saying….dont ruin people’s business like that….if the products got problems, surely authority will investigate

By: neil

neil — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 10:57:41 +0000

dragon guy.i would be more worried about the bacteria in garage fore-court sandwiches, having seen the documentary that stated pre-packed sandwiches can have more bacteria than an average toilet seat. but back to topic i also just bought some cobbler from tesco but i wont be eating it till i know were it was raised

By: Dragonguy

Dragonguy — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 05:35:14 +0000

I at every time but i am not sick. only after i looked inside the fich using amicroscope in my school,i saw a lot of bacteria in it, YUCK.

By: chris tutte

chris tutte — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:44:25 +0000

oh my god, just eaten 2 fillets, it was lovely. hope im gonna be ok !!!!!

By: John

John — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:48:02 +0000

My family and I sat down for a meal last night with the Tesco white fish (breaded I think). It had a very strong ‘chemically taste’ and thankfully my wife and kids (aged 2 and 6) would not eat it - I did persevere and ate it. It got us curious and we looked at the package a bit closer. So I thought I would research Pangasious Fish which is why I am here. I am not going to personally touch this stuff again.

By: Ling

Ling — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 06:13:26 +0000

I had ate vietnamese river cobblers (pangasius) before. Its very tasty that I bought 2 bags of river cobbler fillets and 1 bag of basa fillets. I didn’t realized they are the same kind of fish. I was searching on the internet for a good river cobblers recipe. I came across a few different website including this one. After hearing about Mekong river and the condition of these fishes. It really frighten me that I end up throwing all 3 bags in the trash. I know its such a waste but I don’t want to take a chance of getting myself or anybody ill.

By: lee

lee — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:51:22 +0000

my local fish shop started selling this(pangasius)its alot cheaper than cod and seems popular.after having it a few times i decided to get my self a case 5kg(i know the owner)it was very cheap.i came across this page trying to find the nutritional info for it.i have also come across various other bad reports regarding it.first off the reports on toxins seem to be true random tests carried out in australia have found various toxins in the fish.also when you see where the fish lives its not nice.
check these videos out with regard to the toxins found in oz who import alot of the stuff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx4cykHy0RM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXGAgYw4JZk

lastly
i have had this fish around 8 times so far and have had no ill effects at all.i will use up what i have left but will not be buying anymore.to me its not worth the risk of eating the toxins,plus would you eat a fish that has been brought up in a sewer effectively?.i also dont believe the uk to be more on the ball to testing imported food stuffs.

also could the person who is getting tests at trading standards give an update please

let me know your opinions on eating the fish now after viewing the videos

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:33:51 +0000

“The pangas grow at a speed light (practically!): 4 times faster than in nature…so it makes you wonder what exactly is in their food? Your guess is as good as mine.”

So which is it, you write an article about the things that are in the pangas food then you say you don’t know what is in the food? At least be consistent.

This fish wasn’t exactly dirt cheap either. SO the reason so many people eat it? Because it’s godammed tastey. I recommend people try it wrapped in tinfoil and stuck on the barbeque, just be sure to pierce the foil at the bottom a few minutes before you take it off the heat.

This is the first page i’ve read on this site and i’ll happily be avoiding it for the rest of my happy life. Is it a pseudo science opinion site or what?

By: Julie Manchester UK

Julie Manchester UK — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:16:59 +0000

Bought smoked cobbler last week for first time for hubby. Who was most impressed and has asked it be bought again. No ill effects at all. Oh and as far as the injected pee - don’t all fish ingest fish/whale/turtle etc pee and faeces whilst swimming round anyway? Or is there a huge filter at the bottom of the sea somewhere?

By: Peter (London UK)

Peter (London UK) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:56:36 +0000

Gabbs said

“At my local council I was taken seriously, they took the sample(I ate just one piece of the 2) and started an investigation, on one hand checking the toxic level in lab”

Would Gabbs very kindly post the lab result for us all to see?

thank you

By: sha

sha — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:03:52 +0000

even if the documentary proves that the featured fish farm was indeed using dirty water, bad fish meal, etc, that doesn’t mean the fish farmed itself is bad. with the pangas, they’re now farmed everywhere including other countries such as malaysia, philippines, thailand, america… most of the fish we get probably came from a fish farm rather than the mekong river. also other types of fish get treated some way or another.

what about the farmed salmon? farmed salmon don’t get that natural pink/orange color which we associate with salmon, instead they’re graying in color. so farmers feed them a form of dye to give them this distinct color. locally produced, not natural.

and if you’re scared of what they do to fish, you should be more scared of what they do to the other farmed animals. for example chickens because they put way more chemicals into chickens at least with fish, they grow naturally and farmers only force feed them to make them grow faster, chickens are injected steriods, antibiotics, etc to make them grow faster and bigger. oh and speaking of going local or natural, that doesn’t mean they’re actually better. a typical large scale fish farm still uses commercial feeds for their fish.a small fish farm might grow naturally their fish feed but to do this, they will have to use a form of fertilizer to get the natural food to grow if its not commercial fertilizer then the organic ones such as chicken manure which due to the chemicals used in chicken is also full of chemicals.

we’re bound to get sick from food sometime in our lifetimes but most likely its due to food storage or preparation more than the food itself that causes sickness - ie leaving fish in room temp, using contaminated chopping board etc.

instead of condemning a particular type of food, better just be wary of the stores you buy them from. if they’re the type who source their products from questionable sources or if they don’t have proper sanitation then you have a big problem.

By: Gabbs

Gabbs — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:53:07 +0000

Like many ppl here, unfortunately I ran into this fish unknowingly too (farmed in the Mekong-delta, Vietnam, from Tesco).

I did not vomit or got diarrhea but after having eaten one of the pieces I got bad stomach, felt very weak in 30-50 mins, my lymph nodes grew very big on both sides of my neck and could feel them when swallowing. This lasted for 3 days! This fish was the only new thing in my diet to previous days, so no doubt this caused the effects and it was not allergy.

I got very pissed and contacted the Food Standard Agency. http://www.food.gov.uk/aboutus/contactus/
Fish and Shellfish Department
They asked for my post code and according to that told me which council I should turn to.

At my local council I was taken seriously, they took the sample(I ate just one piece of the 2) and started an investigation, on one hand checking the toxic level in lab, on the other hand checking Tesco’s quality assurance regarding this product.
I was told that it’s best for their investigation if other ppl who were affected would contact them too as if it is just me, who had prolems with the fish, they won’t be able to do much (not enough evidence). But if the agency gets evidence from other sources too, it will definitely facilitate their investigation and gives them more power to act.

So I would like to ask everyone who got sick of this kind of imported fish not to be lazy and report the incident at FSA (link above) or at your local council. It is our interest to help removing dangerous products from the shelves.

By: Kerry

Kerry — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:51:11 +0000

i had river cobbler for the first time last night after purchasing it from tescos. about 3 hours after eating it i had the worst stomach pains i have ever experienced and then spent the next 2 hours vomiting.
i did not associate the fish with my illness until i found this website, i thought i had just caught some kind of bug. i only came on this website because i was looking for a picture of a river cobbler as my mum wanted to know what the fish we ate last night looked like, i never thought i would find a website where it seems the fish may be the cause of my awful night last night!
not everyone may have suffered these effects but i will definitely never be eating river cobbler again, i cannot go through what i went through last night ever again!

By: Bing

Bing — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:21:52 +0000

I am eating this right now and was so impressed that I had to Google it- and this page came up. AND YES I AM STILL EATING IT!!!! Steamed it with ginger, spring onions, soy sauce and sesame oil YUM YUM!!!! and for 1.30 for a big fillet I’m going back to get some more!

With all the laws now regarding food regulations, health and safety, being PC blahblahblah — surely they can’t let a simple thing like ‘injected with URINE’ go unchecked - this page is hilarious!

By: Chris White

Chris White — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:04:43 +0000

Cobblers!
What a lovely fish, steamed it with chilli, garlic, ginger, corriander and lime juice. Yummy yummy yummy
Well filleted, fresh and cooked properley I cannot see any issue.
My only concern was the carbon footprint issue ie the fish coming from vietnam, (the baby sweetcorn came from thailand)
If its being grown in Britain we are on to a winner. All catfish eat crap and forage on the bottom infact most fish will eat almost anything.

If this fish was being bred and raised in vietnam and then shipped to the UK surely it would cost a lot more about 5 times as much infact.

We should me more concerned about all the packaging around food products and the distance its travelled than scarmongering on the food itself!

By: Tam

Tam — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:13:54 +0000

I bought this fish today, again from Tesco, and have to see after cooking it properly, is a fabulous and value for money fish.

To the uneducated idiots who claim to have contracted sickness from the fish, learn to cook it properly, and hey wash you hands before preparing it. Food poisoning DOES NOT HAPPEN THAT QUICKLY, you’re clearly full of shit.

THE TESCO COBBLER IS FARMED IN THE UK, WHICH MEANS STRICT REGULATION, AND LOTS OF TESTING.

By: Peter (London UK)

Peter (London UK) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:20:47 +0000

I ate Basa Fillets for the first time last week and was seriously ill about six hours later requiring A and E attendance. Purchased and cooked the same day. In fairness three others eating the fish did not suffer any ill efects. Did anyone else suffer ill-effects other than stomach pains?

By: Harriet

Harriet — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:56:38 +0000

My family and I eat this fish all the time and its tasty and there has never been any problem with it whatsoever. maybe you kept the fish too long or you had a bad one. dont be put off by this page…its a load of rubbish!

By: Daryl

Daryl — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:46:44 +0000

I was affected at first after reading the adverse articles and emails, as I and my family members have been eating the fish for many years. The fish tasted great on its own (steamed or fried) or cooked with other ingredients.
But after doing some reading and reflecting, I realised that there are a lot of scare-mongering around for commercial interests, especially capitalising on what we fear most - health of our family and young ones. In the competitive fish market, there are a lot of competitors around who will resort to scaremongering to bring down those who are doing much better.
Testing the fish is something which can be easily done and markets like EU, USA and Australia/NZ markets are difficult to please when it comes to standards especially if there have been cases of ill-effects.
So, I will not yield to another scare-mongering (many still floating around after many years)probably with vested commercial interests. Let me go on enjoying the fish, hopefully at a cheaper price!

By: Dondi

Dondi — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:21:32 +0000

My family have been taking this fish for quite sometime now and have had no illness whatsoever. Fish in general are prone to bacteria just by improper handling, so do take extra care when buying and cooking.

I guess for now we’ll have to wait for some official news that indeed these species are not fit for human consumption like with other hundreds of products out there (i.e. french fries)

By: Ed

Ed — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:25:54 +0000

My wife and I have been eating River Cobbler for many months now, at least once a week, and have had no ill effects at all. It is very tasty, especially with dash of lemon juice.
In fact we will be having it again very soon.

By: Eating Fresh Water Fish | The Walk of Life

Eating Fresh Water Fish | The Walk of Life — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:07:41 +0000

[...] according to certain reports; the Pangas breed in ponds contain industrial effluents, arsenic, and toxic and hazardous [...]

By: Pete

Pete — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:39:08 +0000

after reading this blog i would like to see an educated and informed response from the food standards agency or wwhat ever organisation fulfils that obligation in the U.K.

my self and family have eaten this fish without ill effect but will not continue to do so until it is considered safe beyond reasonable doubt.

By: Foodie4Life

Foodie4Life — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:22:00 +0000

All you have to do is a little bit of research on US catfish lobbying to see why they don’t want a high quality in-expensive fish entering into mainstream US consumer acceptance.

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:45:23 +0000

I also bought smoked River Cobbler from Tesco today and also for the first time. I am going to try that fish in this afternoon.

By: James Davies

James Davies — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:49:27 +0000

I bought smoked River Cobbler from Tesco today for the first time and made it into a fish pie topped with creamy mashed potato. It was delicious. The raw fish was good because it has no bones and had a firm texture. I was so interested in this new fish I looked it up on the internet and found this site. I think that there is a level of scaremongering on this site. I won’t have a problem in buying this fish again.

By: Ian Miller

Ian Miller — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:02:29 +0000

Anyone frightened by this scaremongering, please go to the BBC Good Foods site, where you’ll find that Tesco’s Vietnamese River Cobblers are in fact farmed in Britain. It seems the name of this fish isn’t the only cobblers you’ll find on the internet.

It’s a very tasty fish. My daughter & I love it.

By: Basa Nova

Basa Nova — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:31:54 +0000

The dangers of these salacious blogs is that ill-informed consumers and retailers will read this as ‘gospel’ and will act based on this misinformation. National Enquirer, World Weekly News, and other reputable pubs also influence perceptions and behaviors. Take a minute to investigate government and industry data on this fishery and you’ll see that it is well managed and safe. Europe consumes a significant amount of this fish now with no issues relative to safety/supply. We are just starting to see this in the States and it offers a less expensive (not going to use the derogatory ‘cheap’ term) white fish option. It goes 100% in the face of US catfish suppliers who don’t want this fish in the market. That’s fueling much of the negative press. You need only look at the tariffs passed against Asian shrimp - driven by the Southern Shrimp Alliance to see the power of lobby dollars and scare tactics.

By: princess

princess — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:58:25 +0000

this is crazy

By: martin eek

martin eek — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:19:13 +0000

I had never heard of this fish until three days and have since eaten it twice. It has a pleasant flavour, no irritating bones and I am feeling in excellent health so it clearly isn’t immediately lethal. Research on the internet suggests that US interests are objecting to competition from basa imports, so I wonder if that is driving some sort of campaign against this product?

By: Lynne Valentine

Lynne Valentine — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:28:52 +0000

I have bought smoked river cobbler every week for the last couple of month.

My daughter and I eat it at the same time and neither of us has ever been ill as a result of eating it.

However, after reading this page I will be doing a lot of investigating before I buy it again.

By: thechef

thechef — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:36:38 +0000

cream dory! yummy!