Sam's Club Seafood Buying Guide: How to Shop with More Confidence After the Salmon 'Double Labeling' and Parking Lot Scams

Sam's Club's seafood shelves are a perennial priority for members' shopping, but in 2026 controversies around this membership-based retailer kept coming: in March, the salmon 'double labeling' controversy trended on social media; in June, the State Administration for Market Regulation held a regulatory talk with its headquarters; and early in the year, parking lot seafood scams impersonating Sam's Club employees appeared in multiple places. Drawing on regulatory notices and reports from multiple media outlets, this guide explains in one go 'whether you can buy, how to choose, and which pitfalls to avoid.'

Salmon 'Double Labeling': Check the Applicable Standard Before Buying ^[4]

In March 2026, consumers found that the back of the packaging of Sam's Club's bestselling Norwegian imported salmon (Member's Mark) was marked in small print with 'needs to be heated before cooking,' and that it followed GB 2733, the National Food Safety Standard for Fresh and Frozen Animal Aquatic Products—a raw material-level standard that assumes consumers will heat and cook the product and does not support raw consumption; aquatic products meant to be eaten raw should follow GB 10136. Even more controversially, when reporters visited the store in person, staff still said this salmon 'can be eaten raw and meets the standard,' contradicting the packaging label; another media review found that the product had previously been marketed as 'ready to eat straight from the bag,' and after the controversy, the packaging was not changed and the price was not reduced—only the label was quietly altered. A commentary in Sichuan Online said bluntly that this kind of 'double labeling' marketing overdrafts consumer trust. In one sentence: when buying salmon at Sam's Club, do not interpret it as 'sashimi-grade'—only products whose packaging states GB 10136 can be eaten raw; any product labeled GB 2733 should be thoroughly cooked before eating.

Parking Lot 'Internal Seafood Purchases': All 'Employee Overstock' Offers Are Scams ^[3]

In early 2026, seafood scams impersonating Sam's Club and Hema staff appeared in parking lots of multiple markets and residential compounds in Shanghai: scammers wore imitation work vests and used lines such as 'a few items left over from delivery' and 'internal overstock at half price' to peddle frozen seafood at low prices in parking lots. In a typical case reported by Shangguan News (Jiefang Daily), on January 11, 2026, resident Mr. Chen was approached in the parking lot of Zhennan Market in Putuo District by a person claiming to be a 'Sam's Club delivery worker' and bought 'overstock seafood'; after going home and thawing it, he found it stank and was shriveled with no meat, and when he tried to contact the person again, he had been blocked. An analysis by East Money's Caifu Hao pointed out that the core reason the scam works repeatedly is precisely that it borrows the reputation regular supermarkets have built in fresh food quality control as 'credit endorsement.' Remember one rule: Sam's Club and Hema never sell 'overstock seafood' outside their stores at low prices in any form, and you should never trust 'delivery workers' in work uniforms in parking lots.

Regulatory Talk and Rectification: Sam's Club's Food Safety Ledger ^[1][2]

On June 15, 2026, the State Administration for Market Regulation announced that because food safety problems frequently appeared at Sam's Club offline stores and online shops, it had legally held a regulatory talk with the head of Walmart (China) Investment Co., Ltd., demanding strict implementation of the primary responsibility for food safety; Walmart China responded that it 'fully recognizes, deeply reflects on, and sincerely accepts' the issues, set up a special rectification working group led by management, launched self-inspection and rectification across all channels and the entire supply chain, and would regularly report progress to regulators. The earlier controversy timeline includes: in September 2025, two products were penalized by regulators for quality issues; in October, reports emerged one after another of smelly ribs and what appeared to be a 'false tooth' foreign object found in a date paste walnut cake; in December, a live mouse found inside sealed packaging of 'Express Delivery' mochi trended on social media. According to Cailian Press, complaints involving Sam's Club on the Black Cat Complaint platform totaled 2,941, concentrated in issues such as spoilage, air leakage, and foreign objects; in addition, 'Express Delivery' shipping near-expiry goods also sparked dissatisfaction—one consumer received a vegetable salad with less than 24 hours before expiry, and customer service responded that 'if you do not want near-expiry items, you need to note it in the order,' which was criticized as insufficiently transparent. The effectiveness of the rectification still needs to be observed, but at least at the level of the regulatory talk, the problems have been put on the table.

Why Sam's Club Sells Only Frozen Seafood: The Boat-Freezing Logic ^[5]

Unlike wet markets, Sam's Club basically does not sell live seafood and focuses on 'boat-frozen' products—catch is immediately blast-frozen on fishing boats to lock in freshness. An analysis by Chuangyebang noted that this is related to its procurement standards: live seafood has high transport and storage requirements and greater flesh loss, and some vendors may illegally use drugs; frozen seafood is instead a route with more controllable quality; the New Zealand frozen seafood that Sam's Club introduced uses skin packaging and vacuum quick-freezing technology. Understanding this logic means there is no need to fret over 'why doesn't Sam's Club have live shrimp,' and instead attention should be paid to the labels and condition of the frozen products themselves.

Shopping List and Pitfall-Avoidance Tips ^[6]

Several items frequently recommended in SMZDM community guides: kabayaki eel (heat and eat, the safest choice), Greenland halibut chunks (delicate flesh), Ningde yellow croaker (high-quality domestic sea fish), and crisp-fleshed sea bream slices (crunchy texture); salmon is recommended to be pan-fried or roasted until cooked, not eaten raw as sashimi. The community's summarized shopping tips are: choose small over large (smaller fish accumulate fewer contaminants), choose cooked over raw (avoid parasite risk), and check dates and place of origin (prioritize frozen freshness-locked products).

General Acceptance and Thawing of Frozen Seafood ^[7]

Holiday consumption tips from local market regulators also apply to Sam's Club frozen products: do not buy items with heavy frost or signs of repeated thawing, as this signals a break in the cold chain; watch out for 'ice glazing to add weight,' and be wary if the product shrinks severely after thawing; thaw slowly in the refrigerator's chilled compartment, or seal the product and use running cold water—never leave it at room temperature for long periods or soak it in hot water; raw oysters, marinated raw seafood, crabs, and other raw items carry high risks of pathogenic bacteria and parasites, and thorough cooking is the most reliable way to kill them. If you encounter quality problems, keep the receipt and packaging evidence and call 12315 to complain.

Conclusion: You Can Buy, but You Must Vet It Yourself

Overall, Sam's Club's quality control for frozen seafood is still strict among membership-based supermarkets, and the 'boat-frozen' route itself holds up; the real risks lie in three things: eating GB 2733 frozen seafood raw as sashimi, trusting off-site 'employee internal purchases,' and ignoring near-expiry status and packaging condition. Check the applicable standard, examine packaging dates and ice glaze, and pay only through official in-store channels—do these three things, and Sam's Club seafood is still the kind worth putting in your shopping cart.

This article is compiled from the above public reports; events and data are subject to the original reports.