Senator Wants FDA To Act On Seafood Labeling Fraud ff

Source: Food Safety News

The apparent widespread fraud involving seafood labeling practices around ports of entry for imported fish poses a serious health risk for some, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration needs to step up enforcement of this food, says a longtime U.S. Senator.

“It is unacceptable that proven fraud is occurring on such a widespread basis,” Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA, wrote Monday in a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. “Seafood fraud is not only deceptive marketing, but it can also pose serious health concerns, particularly for pregnant women seeking to limit exposure to heavy metals or individuals with serious allergies to certain types of fish.”

FDA has recognized seafood fraud as a problem since at least 1991.

“Seafood is a high-value product and it is a particularly attractive target for fraud,” says the agency’s Seafood Fraud website, which offers both guidance for the industry and tips on identifying certain fraudulent practices.

Boxer’s pressure on FDA is over a study released in April 2012 by Oceana, a world ocean conservation group that often takes on projects to draw consumer interest into its larger agenda to protect oceans. For the study, Oceana researchers in 2011 and 2012 collected and tested 119 seafood samples from grocery stores, restaurants and sushi bars.

The researchers found that mislabeling of seafood was common, including:

• 65 of the 119 samples (55 percent) were mislabeled, according to federal guidelines.
• Every fish sold under the “snapper” label (34 of 34) were mislabeled according to federal guidelines.
• Half the mislabeled snapper was in fact Pacific rockfish. The rest were everything from farmed tilapia to pollock.
• Nearly nine out of ten sushi samples (87 percent) were mislabeled with grocery stores most likely to carry the wrong brand.
• Eight out of nine sushi samples labeled as “white tuna” were actually escolar, a snake mackerel species health warning for its “purgative” effects.

By location, the Oceana study found that 31 percent of the seafood it collected around Miami and Fort Lauderdale and 55 percent from Los Angeles and Orange County to be mislabeled.

Boxer says not only are consumers not getting the fish they paid for, but also mislabeling can pose special health risks for women and people with certain allergies.

“Consumers should not have to question the safety of their seafood,” Boxer said in her letter to the FDA.

Imports are currently the source of 86 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S.  Boxer notes that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2009 found that only two percent of imported fish are inspected by FDA, and only a scant 0.01 percent are checked for seafood mislabeling.

Since fish buyers for grocery stores, restaurants and sushi bars have more expertise about fish than ordinary consumers, many have suspected that most of the rip-off occurs after seafood leaves the port.

“Because there is no traceability and transparency in the U.S. seafood supply, it is impossible for Oceana or any consumer, for that matter, to identify where the mislabeling is actually occurring,” Oceana spokesman Dustin L. Cranor told Food Safety News. “Seafood takes a complex path from fishing vessel to final point of sale, and mislabeling can occur at any step in the process.”

“Senator Boxer’s contention that seafood fraud is “unacceptable” is absolutely right,” says Gavin Gibbons, spokesman for the industry’s National Fisheries Institute.

Gibbons says his National Fisheries Institute members are required to also be members of the industry lead anti-fraud organization, the Better Seafood Board (BSB.)

“The BSB was established in 2007 after responsible members of the seafood community had, in essence, had it with unacceptable commercial practices related to economic integrity,” Gibbons told Food Safety News. “Senator Boxer’s effort to urge the FDA to “strengthen its enforcement efforts” are welcomed by NFI and the BSB.”

He says the FDA has increased its regulatory efforts around seafood fraud over the last two years with the addition of a DNA data base and a significant increase in testing.

“As noted by the Senator, it is here in the enforcement venue where real strides will be made. The laws are on the books and the regulations exist; when, how and how often they are enforced is the key to stamping out this fraud,” Gibbons added. “NFI, the BSB and groups who are truly invested in ending fish fraud know that effort begins with committed industry partners and a fully funded FDA.”