Traceability
An elementary
solution
A certification body has unveiled new tech in the fight against seafood fraud
BY SANDY NEIL
H
OW can seafood consumers know that what they’re ea�ng is what they’ve paid for, and how can seafood producers assure that their product is authen�c? In the latest development, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) is pioneering new technology in the US to verify seafood back to its farm of origin “with be�er than 95% accuracy”. How big a problem is seafood fraud? According to US ocean conserva�on charity Oceana: “Seafood fraud is the prac�ce of misleading consumers about their seafood in order to increase profits. Along with ripping off shoppers, these ac�ons can have nega�ve impacts on marine conserva�on efforts and human health. “Types of seafood fraud include subs�tu�ng one species for another without changing the label, including less seafood in the package than is indicated on the label, adding too much ice to seafood in order to increase the weight and shipping seafood products through different countries in order to avoid du�es and tariffs.” Oceana says: “Although seafood is one of the most popular foods in the US, consumers are rou�nely given li�le or no informa�on about where their seafood is from. Plus, the informa�on provided on seafood labels is o�en misleading or fraudulent. “Despite growing concern about where our food comes from, consumers are frequently served the wrong fish – a completely different species than the one they paid for. Recent studies have found that seafood may be mislabelled as o�en as 25% to 70% of the �me for fish such as red snapper, wild salmon and Atlan�c cod, disguising species that are less desirable, cheaper or more readily available. In order to prevent fraud, consumers need to know where seafood comes from and be able to trace it all the way back to the sea.” The Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s new technology – based on trace element fingerprin�ng (TEF) – will, in part, help the organisa�on further reduce seafood fraud and mislabelling, occurrences all too common in both wild-caught and farmed seafood. “The
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problem with fraudulent seafood is the unknown – if it is from an unknown source, it’s not possible to know what other issues it may have,” says the ASC’s Head of Media, Jack Cu�orth. He explains: “These could range from false claims of species or origin to bad environmental or social prac�ces. That’s why the ASC already invests so much �me and resources in protec�ng the supply chain of cer�fied seafood from the farm to the plate, because consumers deserve to know exactly what they’re ea�ng. “By its very nature, this prac�ce is hard to quan�fy and a lot of evidence is anecdotal. It would definitely be wrong to overes�mate the problem, but even one case is too many, and it’s enough of an issue to warrant our a�en�on and keep improving assurance in the supply chain. Emerging technologies like TEF can help us to do that.” Peter Redmond is Senior Market Development Manager, ASC North America. He says: “If you want to make claims about being the ‘best’ or ‘sustainable’, you must be able to verify where and how the seafood was raised. We are encouraged by the opportunity this technology brings to further strengthen our cer�fica�on programme.” The ASC, which describes itself as the world’s leading provider of farmed seafood cer�fica�on, says this is “the only cer�fying programme that can verify your seafood is what it claims to be, where it came from, how it was responsibly raised and how it got to you. “Now, with TEF, the ASC has the ability to trace farmed seafood with even more accuracy.” Tests have already been conducted at several ASC-
Left: It looks tasty, but what kind of fish is it? Opposite: Mislabelled shrimp may come from an uncer�fied farm
www.fishfarmermagazine.com
11/01/2022 14:16:02
