Seven per cent of fish sold in the UK is mislabelled

Fish-and-chip shops, restaurants and supermarkets are selling cheaper substitute fish instead of the cod and haddock they advertise.

A study has been carried out by the University of Salford revealing that fish like cod and haddock is being substituted for cheaper fish like pollock and Vietnamese pangasius in supermarkets, fish-and-chip shops and restaurants. Other researchers have looked into this before and believe the mislabelling of fish is too widespread to be accidental.

Dr. Stefano Mariani, a biologist who worked on the study, has said consumers should be able to go into a shop or restaurant and know what they are eating and what they paid for.

The study revealed that this mislabelling issue appears to be concentrated in certain fish producers. Some suppliers were consistently handling fish that was shown to be mislabelled, suggesting that much of the mislabelling occurs before the fish gets sent to the supermarket/shop/restaurant.

Kimberly Warner, a scientist from Oceana, a lobbying group campaigning for tighter regulations on fishing has said:

“If you are going to pay for a wild seafood product, and you want to choose that seafood carefully for your health or for conservation concerns, you will not have that opportunity if you are just being served anything which the industry wants to serve up to you.”

Not only does this mislabelling deceive consumers, it also poses a problem for threatened species of fish which could be sold as unthreatened and abundant varieties.

If you want to learn more about where your food comes from and ethically sourcing, speaking to a nutritionist could help. 

View and comment on the original Telegraph article.

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Written by Kat Nicholls
Kat is a Content Producer for Memiah and writer for Nutritionist Resource and Happiful magazine.
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Written by Kat Nicholls
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