Oceana's DNA tests claim 18% of cod sold in Denmark is actually haddock or saithe
SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton Sept. 22, 2014
For many years in New England, the term 'scrod' referred to a juvenile cod, haddock, or pollock. The name also implied a small fish, i.e. only a couple of pounds. However, the FDA eventually outlawed this custom, not even allowing scod cod or scrod haddock as a market name.
Oceana has now taken advantage of this change to claim seafood fraud in Denmark. In DNA tests, they showed that 18% of their samples of cod actually were saithe or haddock. These species are all very similar and caught together, especially when small.
The study conducted by Oceana, the Danish newspaper Søndagsavisen, and the TV program “Go’Aften Denmark” found that there is a 'high' level of sea fraud in Danish markets. The study revealed that 18 percent of cod sold in fishmongers is not cod, but actually haddock or saithe. In total, 120 samples from fishmongers, supermarkets, and restaurants in the wider Copenhagen region underwent DNA analysis.
“Seafood fraud is an extensive practice throughout Europe due to weaknesses in the current traceability systems for fish
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