A number of studies have shown that
mislabelling and species substitutions in fish products are very common
worldwide. This fraud has two major aspects: economics and health. Moreover, poor trading, and neglecting the
species conservation status are growing threats for fish stocks. First the type
and extend of this fraud in fish must be detected in order to take proper
actions. As some markers (e.g. protein analysis and morphological features) can
fail, DNA markers, especially sequencing of cytochrome oxidase I gene (or DNA
barcoding), is becoming a more widely preferred methodology for species
identification. In this study, DNA barcoding technique was employed to confirm
the species names written on the product packages of fish fillets purchased
from the market. The fillets were labeled as Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Among the 15 fillet samples analyzed, only
4 of them were labeled correctly. Seven (47%) of them were found to originate
from pangasius (Pangasianodon
hypophthalmus) and three of them were found to originate from a different
tilapia species (Oreochromis mossambicus).
This paper revealed a significant mislabelling of frozen fish fillets in
Turkey. Customers are making informed decisions based on many reasons (like
health issues or palate) and they have the right to eat what they think they
are paying for. The results indicate the necessity for taking immediate actions
and regulations against fraud in food items to sustain food quality and safety.
Primary Language | English |
---|---|
Subjects | Hydrobiology |
Journal Section | Research Article |
Authors | |
Publication Date | June 30, 2019 |
Submission Date | June 25, 2019 |
Acceptance Date | June 29, 2019 |
Published in Issue | Year 2019 Volume: 8 Issue: 1 |