TORONTO — Oceana Canada recently conducted an investigation that delves into seafood fraud and found that nearly half of seafood samples tested at Canadian restaurants and grocery stores were wrongly labelled, according to CTV News.
Scientists at Tru-Id — a Guelph, Ont.-based lab that partnered with Oceana Canada — collected 382 samples of snapper, sea bass, sole and other fish and found that 44 per cent of the fish were not what the label claimed.
They chose samples from 177 restaurants and other retailers in five Canadian cities as researchers used DNA barcoding to determine the species of fish. Determined to harm consumer health and impact wallets, the report claims the Canadian Food Inspection Agency needs to do a better job of implementing traceability requirements.
But onus also falls on operators and the suppliers they use. According to the study, consumers are served the wrong fish 52 per cent of the time in restaurants.
Tony Elenis, president and CEO of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association (ORHMA), says that restaurants need to be accountable for what they put on their menus.
“Truth in menus is a must and we need to figure out the factors of unknowingly passing it on in the supply chain,” Elenis says.
