Farmed fish sold as wild
4 May 2007
A snapshot survey carried out by the Food Standards Agency has found a potential problem of consumers being sold farmed sea bass, sea bream and salmon as ‘wild’ fish.
The first part of the survey looked at whether consumers buying fish at retail are being provided with information on whether the fish was caught or farmed – and their geographical origin – as required by fish labelling rules.
The survey found that 15% of retailers provided consumers with no information, or incorrect information about the fish or their origin. Smaller businesses, such as fishmongers, scored least well in this area.
In the second part of the survey, samples of fish described as ‘wild fish’ were purchased to investigate the extent to which they actually were wild.
Wild fish samples were purchased from supermarkets, fishmongers, fish auctions, and specialist food shops, and analysis was carried out using the extracted oil from samples of sea bass, sea bream and salmon. The results were then compared to the results in a database of authentic wild and farmed fish.
According to the samples gathered for the Agency survey, about one in ten fish sold as ‘wild sea bass’ and ‘wild sea bream’, and one in seven fish described as ‘wild salmon’, were actually farmed fish.
Dr Mark Woolfe, Head of the Agency’s Food Authenticity Branch, said: ‘Although this survey only gives us a snapshot of the market at the time the samples were taken, it does show areas where retailers can tighten up their procedures so that people both know and get what they are paying for.
‘The method used in this survey is just one of the novel food authenticity methods that the Agency is developing and we hope that the survey and availability of the method will deter any future fish food fraud.’
The Agency’s enforcement partners working in trading standards, who participated in the survey, are tackling the issue with follow-up visits to explain the law and the Agency is planning to publish a simple guide on the regulations aimed at small businesses.
