March 2021
· 4 min read
The next time you order classic British fish and chips, can you be certain that your heaping portion of fresh white fish is really cod when it is battered, bread-crumbed and fried?
Substituting lower-cost fish for the higher-cost, sustainable white fish is a type of seafood fraud that is increasingly common around the world. As consumers shopping at the fresh fish counter of our grocery stores, or dining out, we sometimes have little or no information about where the seafood is from and the information on the seafood labels is sometimes misleading or fraudulent, according to Tom White, Global Seafood Business Lead for NSF.
“What happens is that a lower-cost fish such as a tilapia might be labeled as a higher-value fish such as grouper,” says Tom. “Because some types of seafood are supposed to be screened for toxins or allergens, mislabeling can be harmful. Fish fraud is most common in restaurants because it’s easier to disguise mislabeled fish on a plate and there’s less red tape surrounding the seafood’s journey to your table.”
Tom oversees NSF’s seafood certification and product evaluation operations, which include the company's seafood HQ located at the Port of Everett, Wash. as well as offices in Korea, China, southeast Asia, India, Latin and South America, the U.S. East Coast and, through the recent acquisition of Global Trust Certification Limited, Ireland.
"Fish fraud is most common in restaurants because it’s easier to disguise mislabeled fish on a plate and there’s less red tape surrounding the seafood’s journey to your table."
Seafood fraud has been making headlines for years, but came into the spotlight again recently when UK researchers revealed that almost 36% of seafood products are mislabeled, suggesting “seafood fraud on a vast global level.” The new Guardian Seascape analysis of 44 studies of more than 9,000 samples also found that there’s a 50% chance you aren’t getting what you ordered when you order pike, perch, sole, and bluefin and yellowfin tuna.
The three main types of seafood fraud are:
“The only way to determine substitution fraud is by DNA analysis,” says Tom. “At our seafood operations around the world, we take DNA samples and match them with FDA databases to help seafood suppliers and processors feel confident that the species they’re listing on the label is the species in the package.”
Being able to prove that what is on the label is what lets you know if you are getting the real thing, he adds.
So, how can you make sure you are not getting fake fish? Here, Tom gives three tips:
But the bottom line is this: “The management is required to label that product accurately, whether it’s in the glass case or on the packaging, and that’s what we do at NSF -- make sure that labeling is correct and accurate,” says Tom.
Sources:
www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/15/revealed-seafood-happening-on-a-vast-global-scale