MSC DNA Tests Show Its Chain of Custody Working But Consumer Distrust of Fish Remains at High Level
SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton March 16, 2016
The 5th study conducted by the Marine Stewardship Council on its Chain of Custody program showed that 99.6% of the 256 items sampled were in fact the fish claimed on the label.
The species involved were Atlantic and Pacific Cod, Pacific Salmon, pollock, haddock, hake, hoki, herring, sardines, and rock sole. The only item mislabeled was from Germany, where a Southern Rock sole was identified as a Northern Rock Sole.
The report shows that the MSC chain of custody is working well, but it is less convincing in the arguement about using the MSC to fight fish fraud.
The reason is that fish substituions are well known to occur among certain problem species, that account for by far the most label fraud. These problem species are snappers, pangasius, escolar, and many sharks.
None of these problem species were included in the MSC DNA tests because they are mostly absent from the MSC certification program.
Traceability and product assurance are global problems. The country with the highest level of suspicion over fish being what the seller says it is is China...
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