April 3, 2013 — Scientists claim customers are unwittingly eating pollock or Asian catfish thinking it is cod or haddock.
They said seven per cent of the fish sold in the UK is being mislabelled, leading to cheaper varieties turning up on dinner plates.
The study, by the University of Salford, claims the root of the problem may be fraud and has prompted calls for tighter regulation of the fish industry.
Marine biologist and study leader Stefano Mariani said: “Consumers should be able to go to a shop and know they are eating what they paid for.
“We noted that there were some suppliers that were consistently handling fish that was proven to be mislabelled, which suggests that a lot of mislabelling occurs before the fish gets delivered to the supermarket.”
He called for tougher regulation and tighter rules on labelling so fish can be traced to source.
Read the full story at the Express