The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on seafood species substitution, according to the National Fisheries Institute (NFI). The federal enforcement action would net fish mislabeled as different species of fish, such as when less desirable, cheaper fishes are mislabeled as expensive seafood.

FDA officials informed representatives of the seafood trade association in a conference call on Wednesday that the agency will begin DNA testing 100 samples of fish from imports, warehouses, and distribution centers by using new DNA bar coding technology, NFI reported yesterday. That involves extracting genetic material from each fish sample and comparing it against standardized gene fragments to determine whether it is labeled correctly or is a different species.

“Because FDA believes much of the species mislabeling happens at the retail level it also has plans to collaborate with the state regulatory agencies as part of the crackdown,” according to the NFI press release. In future efforts, the FDA is expected to test close to 1,000 seafood samples.

Douglas Karas, an FDA spokesman, declined to confirm the specifics of the agency’s enforcement plans or its targets. “I'm sure you understand that it would compromise our sampling program if we broadcast the specifics of what we were going to sample,” he said in an e-mail.

However, Karas did say that in the next year, the FDA, “as part of its routine surveillance sampling program for seafood fraud,” will run at least 100 samples through DNA bar code testing to identify whether fish are labeled as the correct species. When it is deemed necessary, the DNA equipment can be used on any of the thousands of import samples taken in a given year, he added.

Karas said DNA testing will be performed when seafood substitution is suspected due to a consumer complaint or as part of an illness investigation. “Much of the data that the FDA has on seafood substitution comes from consumer complaints so it is primarily from the retail level,” he said.

News of the FDA enforcement plans came shortly after our recent investigative report on seafood substitution. We reported that whether deliberate or not, substitution hurts consumers three ways: in their wallet, when expensive seafood is switched for less desirable, cheaper fish; in their health, when they mistakenly eat species that are high in mercury or other contaminants; and in their conscience, if they find out they’ve mistakenly bought species whose numbers are low.

Watchdog Encouraged by FDA’s Planned Testing [The National Fisheries Institute]

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