Generic names and mislabeling conceal high species diversity in global fisheries markets

Cawthorn, Donna‐Mareè; Baillie, Charles; Mariani, Stefano

doi:10.1111/conl.12573

Cited by 58 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…If mislabeling occurs before landing data is collected, commercial landing data could be artificially inflated for in-demand species, and artificially low for substituted species (Di Pinto et al, 2015a). This could affect management efforts by potentially allowing unregulated overharvesting of substitute species (Carvalho et al, 2011;Cox et al, 2012;Cawthorn et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fishy Business: Red Snapper Mislabeling Along the Coastline of the Southeastern United States

Spencer

Bruno

2019

Front. Mar. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Seafood mislabeling is a widely documented problem that has significant implications for human and environmental health. Defined as when seafood is sold under something other than its true species name, seafood fraud allows less-desired or illegally caught species to be marketed as one recognizable to consumers. Red snapper is one of the most frequently mislabeled species, with previous studies showing mislabeling rates as high as 77%. We assessed whether red snapper mislabeling rates varied among states or vendor type. We also determined the IUCN Red List designation of substituted species to assess whether frequently substituted stocks were more or less at-risk than red snapper stocks. We used standard DNA barcoding protocols to determine the identity of products labeled as "red snapper" from sushi restaurants, seafood markets, and grocery stores in the Southeastern United States. Overall, 72.6% of samples (out of 62) were mislabeled, with sushi restaurants mislabeling samples 100% of the time. Out of 13 substituted species (including samples that were indistinguishable between two species), seven (53.8%) were not native to the United States of the 12 substituted species assessed by the IUCN Red List, 11 (91.6%) were listed as less threatened than red snapper. These results contribute to a growing body of mislabeling research that can be used by government agencies trying to develop effective policies to combat seafood fraud and consumers hoping to avoid mislabeled products.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fishy Business: Red Snapper Mislabeling Along the Coastline of the Southeastern United States

Spencer

Bruno

2019

Front. Mar. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…At the very least, consumers should be empowered to make choices that support sustainable use of natural resources. This is impossible when retailers are permitted to group many species under one label, for example, ‘Snapper’ is an umbrella term that has found to be applied to more than 60 species in 16 fish families (Cawthorn, Baillie & Mariani, 2018). An example in the AFNS is Basa.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Could do better! A high school market survey of fish labelling in Sydney, Australia, using DNA barcodes

Mitchell

Rothbart

Frankham

et al. 2019

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Processed seafood products are not readily identifiable based on physical characteristics, which leaves the industry vulnerable to high levels of product mislabelling (globally estimated at 5–30% mislabelled). This is both a food safety issue and a consumer protection issue as cheaper species could be substituted for more expensive species. DNA barcoding is proving to be a valuable tool for authentication of fish products. We worked with high school students to perform a market survey and subsequent species assessment via DNA barcoding to investigate the accuracy of fish product names used by retailers in Sydney, Australia. Methods Sixty-eight fish samples, sold under 50 different common names, were purchased anonymously from two retailers in Sydney. Each product name was recorded and reconciled with the Australian Fish Names Standard (AFNS). Samples were DNA barcoded and resulting sequences were deposited in the online Barcode of Life Data system using the simplified Student Data Portal interface. Results Forty percent of the fish names did not comply with the AFNS, however, half of these were either spelling errors or vendors supplied more information than the standard requires. The other half of the non-compliant samples were given common names not listed on the AFNS. Despite this lack of standardization, DNA barcode data confirmed the retailers’ identifications for 93% of samples and 90% of species sampled. Discussion The level of mislabelling we report for Sydney retailers (7% of samples or 10% of species) compares favorably with the global rates of 5–30%, but unfavorably with the only previous DNA barcode fish authentication study for Australia, which found no confirmed mislabelling in Hobart. Our study sampled mostly Australian produce, only two retailers and no restaurants. Results of our limited sample suggest that although many Sydney fish retailers attempt to implement the voluntary fish name standards, the standards are inadequate. As Australia imports 75% of its seafood, and in other countries restaurants generally show lower levels of compliance than retailers, broader surveys are needed before generalizing these results. DNA barcoding is a powerful yet simple method supported by accessible online analytical tools. Incorporation of fish barcoding into high school science classes provided students with valuable firsthand experience in scientific research and drew together different strands of the NSW curriculum relating to genetics and sustainability. Given the techniques, equipment, and reagents are now readily accessible, we expect to see greater uptake of DNA barcoding technology by high schools, citizen scientists and consumer groups in Australia in future. However, there remains much scope for further development of DNA barcode diagnostics (both data and analytical methods) for commercial fish species.

show abstract

“…This increased interest in food authenticity may also be explained by the numerous food scandals over the last few years (e.g., horsemeat scandal in 2013 and rotten meat from Brazil in 2017) and the increased consumer awareness about the impacts of food fraud in terms of illegal economic gain, as well as negative effects on the public health and the environment. Nonetheless, several recent studies have indicated that fraud or mislabeling is still a widespread practice, especially in food products of animal origin, which are often considered among the most frequently adulterated foods [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Market globalization and increases in international trade, driven by fewer obstacles to the export and import of food, a complex food production chain, and the complex nature of food products of animal origin, the huge variety of these products, as well as the emergence of tricky and more sophisticated forms of fraud are some of the reasons that could explain this rise in food fraud and why detection and prevention are challenging tasks [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fraud in Animal Origin Food Products: Advances in Emerging Spectroscopic Detection Methods over the Past Five Years

Hassoun

Måge

Schmidt

et al. 2020

Foods

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Animal origin food products, including fish and seafood, meat and poultry, milk and dairy foods, and other related products play significant roles in human nutrition. However, fraud in this food sector frequently occurs, leading to negative economic impacts on consumers and potential risks to public health and the environment. Therefore, the development of analytical techniques that can rapidly detect fraud and verify the authenticity of such products is of paramount importance. Traditionally, a wide variety of targeted approaches, such as chemical, chromatographic, molecular, and protein-based techniques, among others, have been frequently used to identify animal species, production methods, provenance, and processing of food products. Although these conventional methods are accurate and reliable, they are destructive, time-consuming, and can only be employed at the laboratory scale. On the contrary, alternative methods based mainly on spectroscopy have emerged in recent years as invaluable tools to overcome most of the limitations associated with traditional measurements. The number of scientific studies reporting on various authenticity issues investigated by vibrational spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and fluorescence spectroscopy has increased substantially over the past few years, indicating the tremendous potential of these techniques in the fight against food fraud. It is the aim of the present manuscript to review the state-of-the-art research advances since 2015 regarding the use of analytical methods applied to detect fraud in food products of animal origin, with particular attention paid to spectroscopic measurements coupled with chemometric analysis. The opportunities and challenges surrounding the use of spectroscopic techniques and possible future directions will also be discussed.

show abstract

Generic names and mislabeling conceal high species diversity in global fisheries markets

Cited by 58 publications

References 24 publications

Fishy Business: Red Snapper Mislabeling Along the Coastline of the Southeastern United States

Fishy Business: Red Snapper Mislabeling Along the Coastline of the Southeastern United States

Could do better! A high school market survey of fish labelling in Sydney, Australia, using DNA barcodes

Fraud in Animal Origin Food Products: Advances in Emerging Spectroscopic Detection Methods over the Past Five Years

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About