The ‘lobster’ at out-of-state restaurants might not be what you expect

If you find an inexpensive lobster roll in Maine, congrats! But if you find one in Florida or New York, there’s a good chance it’s not pure 100 percent lobster. It might not contain lobster at all. Same goes for the bisque or lobster ravioli.

The TV show Inside Edition is the latest to look into this, scooping the meat from lobster dishes at 28 restaurants nationwide and sending it off to laboratories for testing. They found 35 percent contained cheap lobster substitutes like langostino, also known as a pelagic crab, a relative to the hermit crab often referred to as “squat lobster.”

In addition, several restaurants were found cutting the lobster in their lobster rolls with whiting and pollock, or buying a frozen mix that contained cheaper fish along with lobster.

Red Lobster’s bisque is a mix of lobster and langostino, a fact the chain admits. “Our Lobster Bisque can contain meat from Maine lobster, langostino lobster, or, in some cases, a combination of both,” the chain told Inside Edition.

Langostino lobster? Yup. In Maine, lobster means Maine lobster, but restaurants in other states who want to save money often substitute cheaper crustaceans like the rock lobster and langostino.

The FDA allows restaurants to refer to the langostino as “langostino lobster” after customers sued California-based chain Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill for serving the crabs in a “lobster burrito.”

As part of the 2006 settlement, the FDA ruled that restaurants had to call them “langostino lobster,” Maine lobstermen and then-Sen. Olympia Snowe railed against the ruling.

“Permitting this inferior product to be improperly marketed as ‘lobster’ not only pollutes consumers’ appetite for real lobster, but it also exposes consumers who suffer from certain allergies to potentially life-threatening allergic reactions,” Snowe said at the time.

Today.com released a list of ways diners can make sure they’re eating lobster. The short: Make sure it says “Maine lobster” or isn’t cut up so fine you can’t recognize it as a lobster. Otherwise, you’re not only paying too much for inferior seafood, you’re not supporting Maine lobstermen.

Still, there are worse things than buying lobster and getting different seafood, like buying grated Parmesan cheese and getting wood pulp instead.