1. DNA barcoding validates species labelling of certified seafood
- Author
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Francis Neat, Rob Ogden, Lucy M.I. Webster, Alison Roel, Laura Andriessen, Jaco Barendse, and Catherine Longo
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,High rate ,Food Handling ,Supply chain ,Certification ,Biology ,DNA barcoding ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Product (business) ,03 medical and health sciences ,Agricultural science ,030104 developmental biology ,0302 clinical medicine ,Seafood ,Labelling ,Sustainability ,DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ,Food-Processing Industry ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Summary Seafood is one of the most traded food commodities in the world with demand steadily increasing [1] . There is, however, a rising concern over the vulnerability of seafood supply chains to species mislabelling and fraud 1 , 2 . DNA methods have been widely used to detect species mislabelling and a recent meta-analysis of 4500 seafood product tests from 51 publications found an average of 30 percent were not the species stated on the label or menu [3] . This high rate poses a serious threat to consumer trust, reputations of seafood businesses and the sustainability of fishery resources. Seafood certification schemes may help reduce this problem. Here, we use DNA barcoding [4] to validate the species identity of 1402 certified seafood products derived from 27 species across 18 countries and find that in over 99% of cases species labelling was correct.
- Published
- 2019
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