When shopping, most people assume that what the label says they are buying is actually, in fact, what they are buying. Well, it turns out that for many seafood products you're being fooled and only a DNA testing kit will help you uncover just what that fishy fillet really is. A recent study from the University of Guelph has confirmed that much of the seafood being sold in Canada isn't what it seems.
According to an article published last Thursday, a cross-Canada investigation revealed that 25% of 500 fish sampled were mislabelled and misrepresented. The study found that farmed Atlantic salmon was being sold as Pacific salmon, endangered Patagonia toothfish was being sold as sea bass, and tilapia was being sold as snapper. The lower grade, and more abundant, skipjack tuna was often sold claiming to be a higher grade tuna such as bigeye or yellowfin and some species being sold didn't even register as a species legally sold in Canada.
The researchers undertook genetic testing on the fish obtained from supermarkets both fresh and in frozen packaging, fishmongers, and restaurants, and then identified the species using the Barcode of Life DNA database, pioneered at the University of Guelph's Biodiversity Institute of Ontario.
The results of this investigation sets off serious alarm bells. Not only is this concerning for food safety issues--allergies and possible contamination--but in a market of high seafood demand and dwindling supply, consumers may be buying from unsustainable sources advertised as a more benign counterpart.
Greenpeace is encouraging Canada's supermarkets to take a close look at what they are sourcing, where it is coming from and how it was caught and farmed. We are urging them to ensure their seafood products labels provide pertinent information such as the species scientific name, origin and method of catch or aquaculture so consumers won't be fooled.