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Camera IconThe influencer was stunned to learn that flake is made of shark. Credit: Madelin Hayes<\/p>\nIt\u2019s a staple takeaway millions of Aussies swear by, but a viral video has left some diners questioning everything they knew.<\/p>\n
A clip from a Sydney-based influencer\u2019s podcast has highlighted exactly what lies under the crispy batter of an item seen on nearly every fish and chip shop menu, much to the displeasure of some consumers.<\/p>\n
Influencer Matty Hey and entrepreneur Brittney Saunders released a new episode of their joint podcast High Scrollers last week \u2014 with the 15 minute show named \u2018Fish or Shark: An Investigation\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know when you get fish from the fish and chip shop, it\u2019s shark,\u201d Saunders began the episode by saying.<\/p>\n
The off-handed comment seemingly left Hey stunned, with the self-described glamazon sharing that he \u201cdidn\u2019t know that\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hey is then seen grabbing his phone to verify the claim<\/p>\n
\u201c(Google) says in Australia, shark meat is commonly sold as flake \u2014 what is flake?\u201d he asks.<\/p>\n
Flake is the commercial name for flesh primarily made out of shark, with most stores using gummy sharks.<\/p>\n
While Saunders and an off-camera worker both said they\u2019ve known this for years, Hey was skeptical and shared he wasn\u2019t \u201cconvinced\u201d that the sale of shark was permitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of Australians grew up eating shark without realising it,\u201d Saunders added.<\/p>\n
The duo quickly switched gears from podcasters to investigative journalists \u2014 calling various fish and chip workers to \u201cget to the bottom of this\u201d.<\/p>\n
One employee confirmed she would serve shark if asked for \u2018fish and chips\u2019, while another said customers needed to specifically request shark.<\/p>\n
Despite the confirmation, Hey later said the discovery has left him \u201cmind boggled\u201d.<\/p>\n
Camera IconThe influencer was stunned to learn that flake is made of shark. Credit: Madelin Hayes<\/p>\n
A clip of the discussion quickly went viral, gaining more than half a million views in four days \u2014 with the news leaving some Aussies just as stunned as Hey.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo FREAKING way OMG,\u201d one viewer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you\u2019re telling me I\u2019ve eaten shark at some point in my life?!\u201d another queried.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was just low quality, who the f*** knew this??\u201d a third asked.<\/p>\n
Some people, however, were stunned that the information wasn\u2019t common knowledge among Aussies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is everyone only learning this 30 years later??\u201d someone asked.<\/p>\n
One viewer said they thought it was \u201ccommon knowledge\u201d that flake is shark, while another follower asked if the clip was a \u201cskit\u201d, saying \u201ceveryone knows this\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Camera IconThe comments were divided between those who knew and those who didn\u2019t. Credit: Instagram\/TheWest<\/p>\n
While being served shark appears to be quite common Down Under, not every fish and chips you order across Australia will include flake.<\/p>\n
Many West Aussies were quick to argue that the western coast does things a bit differently, opting to sell fish such as hake instead of flake.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt depends where you are in Australia, in WA we use snapper or gummy shark,\u201d one WA local wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery uncommon in Perth, a lot of fish and chip shops here just use hoki or hake,\u201d another said, while a third commenter echoed: \u201cIn WA, it\u2019s hake . . . just basic fish, no flake here.\u201d<\/p>\n
One Aussie who has lived in both Victoria and WA shared the differences between how the two states serve fish and chips.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m from Victoria so always had flake which was the standard . . . we moved to Western Australia and it\u2019s actually listed as shark on their menus,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s shark or snapper, it seems most still enjoy their fish and chips, with one person saying: \u201cWhatever it is, I\u2019ll still order it\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a staple takeaway millions of Aussies swear by, but a viral video has left some diners questioning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":805434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,134,1295,995,44],"class_list":["post-805433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-entertainment","tag-food","tag-influencers","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}