Transparency trend comes to sushi restaurant via edible QR codes

Transparency has been a huge by-word in the trends world for some time now. But how do you take advantage of this trend when you run a sushi restaurant? Robert Ruiz, chef of two-unit Harney Sushi in San Diego and Oceanside, Calif. Ruiz uses edible ink to print the QR codes on rice wafers he serves with sushi. Customers with smartphones can follow the codes to a website that describes the origins of the fish they’re eating. The code currently takes customers to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s FishWatch website, which lets users look up the fish they’re eating and see the health of the fishery it comes from. Next month, Ruiz plans to introduce species-specific QR codes for albacore tuna and sea urchin. The sea urchin code will take customers to a website by the University of California at San Diego Scripps Institute of Oceanography that explains the status of the shellfish’s population. The albacore code will take users to a YouTube video clip showing the operations of the seafood company from which Ruiz purchases the fish. "As different sea life comes in and out of season, I can make new QR codes for them," Ruiz said, adding that he goes through 25 tons of seafood each year.