BATON ROUGE, LA – Following continued testing that found imported shrimp being mislabeled as domestic, Louisiana officials have introduced a new verification process requiring incoming shrimp to correctly pronounce “Tchoupitoulas” before being certified as local.
Under the new rules, inspectors will administer a brief oral examination to shrimp arriving at restaurants across the state. Those successfully pronouncing “Tchoupitoulas” will move on to additional questions involving “Atchafalaya,” “Thibodaux,” and “Natchitoches.”
“We had one yesterday claim he was from Delacroix, but he pronounced every letter in ‘Thibodaux,’” said one inspector. “We checked the box. Vietnam.”
Shrimp passing the examination will receive official Louisiana certification and be cleared for use in gumbo, etouffee’, and po’boys.
Those failing will be immediately labeled imported, although officials said each shrimp will receive one final opportunity to prove Louisiana residency by correctly identifying which parish has the worst drivers.
