Sushihunter
Active Member
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv...fish0821/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home
Fishy business
August 21, 2008 at 5:03 PM EDT
Before you bite into that fish and chips or spend $30 on halibut at the supermarket, you may want to take a second look: 25 per cent of fish is mislabeled, according to a University of Guelph study published today that used DNA analysis to determine the true identity of fish sold in Toronto and New York.
One sample sold as tuna turned out to be tilapia; halibut was really hake; and red snapper was, on different occasions, lavender jobfish, Labrador redfish, perch and cod.
"There's not a lot of regulation around fin fish; it's basically been ignored," says study co-author Robert Hanner, associate director for the Canadian Barcode of Life Network and an assistant professor of biology at the University of Guelph.
"Now that we have the tool to do it, we probably have an obligation to start testing."
He and co-author Eugene Wong tested 96 samples of fish from grocery stores, markets and restaurants in New York and Toronto. They analyzed the DNA of each fish and compared it with a global database of species. They intended simply to test the database, which performed well, identifying each piece of fish they found. Discovering so much fish fraud was a surprise.
That's where we started to think, 'We've got to publish this,'" Dr. Hanner says.
Some of the mislabelling could be blamed on nomenclature confusion. Scientists have Latin names for every species, while fishermen use their own common names, and those may vary from one country to another.
But some of the "substitutions" are definitely, well, fishy. The person who was served tilapia instead of tuna got hosed, as tilapia is less than half the price of tuna.
The example that really annoyed Dr. Hanner was a fish sold as Alaskan halibut that was actually Atlantic halibut. Though the two species are closely related, DNA analysis can tell them apart — and for those concerned about eating ethically, there's a big difference. Atlantic halibut stock has collapsed and the species is considered at risk; Pacific halibut is considered the more eco-friendly choice.
Dr. Hanner was dismayed to learn that efforts to eat responsibly may be foiled by fish-swappers.
"We're not really sure where mislabelling is occurring," he says, adding that he thinks it's usually not the fishermen or the fishmongers themselves. "My guess is it's happening somewhere in the processing and distribution supply chain."
The commercial fishing industry, or at least its reputable representatives, have welcomed DNA-testing technology aimed at ferreting out false marketing. The Virginia-based National Fisheries Institute last summer established a group called the Better Seafood Bureau to try to police fish markets, and established a hotline people can call to complain if they think they were victims of a bait-and-switch. (The number is 1-866-956-4272.)
"Trying to pass one fish off as another is often called species substitution, but I have another name for it — fraud," said NFI president John Connelly.
Perhaps one day, Dr. Hanner says, fish will come with their own equivalent of the VQA label found on Ontario wine, guaranteeing their provenance. His ultimate dream is to put the power of false-fish detection into the hands of the public, with portable DNA scanners that could tell you what the catch of the day really is.
That technology may be a few years away, he says, but 10 years ago who would have thought that cellphones would come equipped with cameras and GPS devices?
"The cost of doing this is coming down," he says. "What we need to do is to get it out of university research labs and into the hands of border inspectors and end consumers."
Sniffing out phony fish
If the store smells, there's a good chance its labelling practices will be fishy, too.
That's the best guiding principle when shopping for seafood, says Robert Clark, executive chef of C Restaurant in Vancouver.
"Fish should have no odour; it should never be wrapped in Saran wrap," says Mr. Clark, whose high-end establishment is renowned for its sustainable-seafood menu. "All those things are a good indication that they're paying attention to detail." He says the most obvious case of "outright lying" in recent years has been the pawning off of farmed Atlantic salmon as wild. How to tell? Examine the V-shaped pattern of white fat in the flesh. If the white deposits are thick and conspicuous, the fish is likely farmed. Most wild species, such as sockeye and coho, have deep red flesh. One exception is chinook, or spring, salmon, whose flesh can appear farmed depending on the size of the fish.
Another big issue for consumers is the fraudulent labelling of product as fresh when it is in fact frozen. Mr. Clark says one of the biggest deceptions in recent years in British Columbia has been "jet fresh" Chilean sea bass. "Not one ounce of Chilean sea bass imported into this country is fresh," he says.
Beppi Crosariol
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
Fishy business
August 21, 2008 at 5:03 PM EDT
Before you bite into that fish and chips or spend $30 on halibut at the supermarket, you may want to take a second look: 25 per cent of fish is mislabeled, according to a University of Guelph study published today that used DNA analysis to determine the true identity of fish sold in Toronto and New York.
One sample sold as tuna turned out to be tilapia; halibut was really hake; and red snapper was, on different occasions, lavender jobfish, Labrador redfish, perch and cod.
"There's not a lot of regulation around fin fish; it's basically been ignored," says study co-author Robert Hanner, associate director for the Canadian Barcode of Life Network and an assistant professor of biology at the University of Guelph.
"Now that we have the tool to do it, we probably have an obligation to start testing."
He and co-author Eugene Wong tested 96 samples of fish from grocery stores, markets and restaurants in New York and Toronto. They analyzed the DNA of each fish and compared it with a global database of species. They intended simply to test the database, which performed well, identifying each piece of fish they found. Discovering so much fish fraud was a surprise.
That's where we started to think, 'We've got to publish this,'" Dr. Hanner says.
Some of the mislabelling could be blamed on nomenclature confusion. Scientists have Latin names for every species, while fishermen use their own common names, and those may vary from one country to another.
But some of the "substitutions" are definitely, well, fishy. The person who was served tilapia instead of tuna got hosed, as tilapia is less than half the price of tuna.
The example that really annoyed Dr. Hanner was a fish sold as Alaskan halibut that was actually Atlantic halibut. Though the two species are closely related, DNA analysis can tell them apart — and for those concerned about eating ethically, there's a big difference. Atlantic halibut stock has collapsed and the species is considered at risk; Pacific halibut is considered the more eco-friendly choice.
Dr. Hanner was dismayed to learn that efforts to eat responsibly may be foiled by fish-swappers.
"We're not really sure where mislabelling is occurring," he says, adding that he thinks it's usually not the fishermen or the fishmongers themselves. "My guess is it's happening somewhere in the processing and distribution supply chain."
The commercial fishing industry, or at least its reputable representatives, have welcomed DNA-testing technology aimed at ferreting out false marketing. The Virginia-based National Fisheries Institute last summer established a group called the Better Seafood Bureau to try to police fish markets, and established a hotline people can call to complain if they think they were victims of a bait-and-switch. (The number is 1-866-956-4272.)
"Trying to pass one fish off as another is often called species substitution, but I have another name for it — fraud," said NFI president John Connelly.
Perhaps one day, Dr. Hanner says, fish will come with their own equivalent of the VQA label found on Ontario wine, guaranteeing their provenance. His ultimate dream is to put the power of false-fish detection into the hands of the public, with portable DNA scanners that could tell you what the catch of the day really is.
That technology may be a few years away, he says, but 10 years ago who would have thought that cellphones would come equipped with cameras and GPS devices?
"The cost of doing this is coming down," he says. "What we need to do is to get it out of university research labs and into the hands of border inspectors and end consumers."
Sniffing out phony fish
If the store smells, there's a good chance its labelling practices will be fishy, too.
That's the best guiding principle when shopping for seafood, says Robert Clark, executive chef of C Restaurant in Vancouver.
"Fish should have no odour; it should never be wrapped in Saran wrap," says Mr. Clark, whose high-end establishment is renowned for its sustainable-seafood menu. "All those things are a good indication that they're paying attention to detail." He says the most obvious case of "outright lying" in recent years has been the pawning off of farmed Atlantic salmon as wild. How to tell? Examine the V-shaped pattern of white fat in the flesh. If the white deposits are thick and conspicuous, the fish is likely farmed. Most wild species, such as sockeye and coho, have deep red flesh. One exception is chinook, or spring, salmon, whose flesh can appear farmed depending on the size of the fish.
Another big issue for consumers is the fraudulent labelling of product as fresh when it is in fact frozen. Mr. Clark says one of the biggest deceptions in recent years in British Columbia has been "jet fresh" Chilean sea bass. "Not one ounce of Chilean sea bass imported into this country is fresh," he says.
Beppi Crosariol
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
SS
