Seafood transparency

Health inspectors fined three Popeyes locations last year for failing to label imported shrimp. The cited restaurants were in Opelousas, Grand Coteau and Breaux Bridge.

The national fast-food chain, founded in Arabi, has long used Louisiana culture in its marketing.

Though best known for its chicken, Popeyes often features fried shrimp on its menu and has occasionally experimented with fried crawfish meals and a “Cajun Flounder Sandwich” with Pacific flounder rather than the southern flounder native to Louisiana.

Last year, Popeyes renamed its offering the “Flounder Fish Sandwich,” dropping the “Cajun” moniker.

Popeyes’ parent company, Restaurant Brands International, did not respond to requests for comment or questions sent via email. The vast majority of its 3,700 worldwide restaurants are independently owned and operated. The corporation sets strict food quality standards with specifically-approved wholesale vendors that all franchisees must use, according to its website.

Restaurants reached for this report largely chalked up their violations to a simple oversight or not being aware of their supplier’s seafood source.

Monjuni’s Italian restaurant in Bossier City was cited Feb. 10, 2025, for using imported crawfish without labeling it as such on the menu, records show. In a phone interview, owner Lisa Susano said she wasn’t aware her supplier had sent her foreign crawfish tails when local ones weren’t available. She said she has since instructed her vendor to never send her imported tails.

“I really wasn’t paying attention,” Susano said. “It’s hard to make it in the restaurant industry. Restaurants close every day.”

As for shrimp, Susano said she has always used Louisiana catch. She said she didn’t realize the state’s menu labeling law also applied to crawfish, which she said can be more difficult to source locally because its season can be short.

Health inspectors often show up unannounced at restaurants to check for health code violations, including the labeling laws. Officials check the restaurant’s wholesale receipts and seafood packaging to determine the country of origin for the shrimp or crawfish being served. If the restaurant’s menu doesn’t match the receipts, it’s a violation but not always a fine.

Inspectors typically give the restaurant about a week to correct a menu violation before conducting a follow-up visit. If the violation goes uncorrected, the state can levy a first fine of $500.

State health department records show inspectors cited Mandina’s Restaurant in Mandeville four times last year for violating the menu law from June 30 through Aug. 7. The business is not affiliated with the iconic New Orleans eatery on Canal Street that bears the same name.

In a phone interview, owner Frank Marcello said he paid a $150 fine for the violations at the Mandeville restaurant, which he blamed on his own absent-mindedness.

“It was my fault,” he said. “We just didn’t have that [disclosure] on the menu, so we changed the menu.”

Marcello said he uses Gulf shrimp most of the time except when it’s too expensive.

“When you’re a little family restaurant like us, when something goes up $5 or $6 per pound, you gotta do what you gotta do,” Marcello said. “I can’t charge $30 for a shrimp po’ boy.”

Mandina’s in New Orleans, a favorite of locals and tourists, was not on the health department’s list. General manager Martial Voitier said his restaurant has always used local seafood regardless of the price or availability.

The Mandina family sold the Mandeville location years ago, according to Voitier. He was pleased to hear about the state’s enforcement of the labeling laws and said he thinks they should be as strict as possible.

“It doesn’t offend me or bother me at all because we don’t deal with any foreign products — period,” Voitier said.

Health inspectors also included members-only dining establishments in their enforcement.

The Southern Yacht Club, an exclusive sailing organization in New Orleans with a large waterfront building on Lake Pontchartrain, has a full-service restaurant inside and a summer bar and grill outside. Visitors are welcome if they have an invitation or are accompanied by a member

During a Nov. 18 visit, inspectors cited Southern Yacht Club for 10 “critical” violations, including serving unlabeled imported shrimp. State sanitation codes define critical violations as those “more likely to directly contribute to food contamination or illness,” and they must be addressed immediately.

The club’s other critical violations included failure to retain shellfish tags for 90 days after sale and using oyster shells “more than once as serving containers” for other meats not original to the shell.

Ed Gaskell, Southern Yacht Club’s manager, said via email the imported shrimp was a “substitution error” made by a vendor.

“The shrimp in question from the cooler was thrown out in front of the inspector and never served,” Gaskell said, adding that Southern Yacht Club now uses only domestic shrimp.

State clamps down after years of non-enforcement

The enforcement data from 2025 mark the agency’s efforts to step up enforcement after years of light-handed treatment while Louisiana’s seafood industry complained of a massive influx of foreign seafood.

Two years earlier, the health department documented more than 2,600 violations but did not issue a single fine over that period because the Louisiana Legislature failed to clarify penalties in a 2019 revision to the law.

Since 2024, the legislature has passed sweeping changes to state seafood laws affecting wholesalers, restaurants, food trucks, grocery stores and other establishments across the state. These included heavier fines for violators and strict prohibitions against misleading branding. They also gave authority to the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion Board to assist in enforcement efforts.

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, who oversees the state Office of Tourism and the Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, said he is considering building a website that lists every restaurant in Louisiana that serves local seafood products. He is also lobbying for the passage of a new imported seafood law at the federal level.

“My ultimate goal is to get Congress to pass a bill to add a 10-cents-per-pound inspection fee on imported seafood,” Nungesser said.

He said this would help “level the playing field” for local fishermen trying to compete with the significantly cheaper foreign fare that continues to enter the United States.

Dave Williams, a fisheries scientist, has made headlines across the Gulf Coast exposing grocers, restaurants and festival vendors selling imported shrimp in violation of Louisiana seafood labeling laws. His company, SeaD Consulting, developed a rapid test kit that can analyze the genetic makeup of raw or cooked seafood.

Williams said any place that serves imported seafood and has customers that expect to get imported seafood should have no problem labeling that seafood as “imported.”

His company has conducted undercover shrimp testing at restaurants across the Gulf Coast. Williams said his goal has been to educate restaurant owners and draw public attention to the issue so that people start asking where the seafood comes from when they go out to eat. SeaD Consulting publicly commends restaurants found to be serving domestic catch.

“The mislabeling law applies to all restaurants serving these products, ensuring a consistent standard and a level playing field for seafood transparency. … The point of the law in Louisiana is to inform consumers of what they are being served,” Williams said.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on Facebook and X.