A new report by environmental activist group Oceana has determined that a large amount of seafood in restaurants and cafeterias in Brussels is mislabeled, including fish served in cafeterias at the European Commission itself.
A study performed for Oceana by the Catholic University of Leuven has studied 280 samples and determined on average, 30 percent of the samples were sold under an incorrect label. The university conducted the study between March and June of this year. The samples came from more than 150 restaurants and EU institutions, including the cafeterias for the European Parliament and the European Commission, where the studies found 38 percent of fish sold there was mislabeled.
“DNA tests show widespread seafood fraud in Brussels restaurants and even in official EU venues,” said Lasse Gustavsson, executive director of Oceana in Europe. “Consumers are cheated and the door is left wide open to the laundering of illegal fishing products. The EU needs to clean up its fishy business, take responsibility and urgently improve traceability and labelling of seafood.”
In many cases, the study found, fish sold as cod or sole, which can sell in restaurants for as much as EUR 40 (USD 43.64), were actually pangasius, which is much cheaper.
The study also found 95 percent of samples sold as bluefin tuna were actually the cheaper, tropical varieties bigeye or yellowfin.
Oceana has issued a series of reports over the past few years featuring DNA analysis proving seafood in the United States has been mislabeled, or sold under a different name in order for vendors to charge a premium price. Now, Oceana is saying the problem exists in Europe as well.
“The first step for EU decision-makers is to realize that this is a EU-wide problem and they, as consumers themselves, are just as vulnerable as the rest of us,” Gustavsson said. “As EU fish resources become scarcer due to overexploitation, the market demand is becoming satisfied with imported products or cheaper substitutes, deceiving consumers.”
Oceans 5 and the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation funded the study through a grant.
