Document of bibliographic reference 365958

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Seafood label quality and mislabelling rates hamper consumer choices for sustainability in Australia

Abstract

Seafood mislabelling and species substitution, compounded by a convoluted seafood supply chain with significant traceability challenges, hinder efforts towards more sustainable, responsible, and ethical fishing and business practices. We conducted the largest evaluation of the quality and accuracy of labels for 672 seafood products sold in Australia, assessing six seafood groups (i.e., hoki, prawns, sharks and rays, snapper, squid and cuttlefish, and tuna) from fishmongers, restaurants, and supermarkets, including domestically caught and imported products. DNA barcoding revealed 11.8% of seafood tested did not match their label with sharks and rays, and snappers, having the highest mislabelling rate. Moreover, only 25.5% of products were labelled at a species-level, while most labels used vague common names or umbrella terms such as ‘flake’ and ‘snapper’. These poor-quality labels had higher rates of mislabelling than species-specific labels and concealed the sale of threatened or overfished taxa, as well as products with lower nutritional quality, reduced economic value, or potential health risks. Our results highlight Australia’s weak seafood labelling regulations and ambiguous non-mandatory naming conventions, which impede consumer choice for accurately represented, sustainable, and responsibly sourced seafood. We recommend strengthening labelling regulations to mitigate seafood mislabelling and substitution, ultimately improving consumer confidence when purchasing seafood.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001042854100069

Bibliographic citation

Cundy, M.E.; Santana-Garcon, J.; McLennan, A.G.; Ayad, M.E.; Bayer, P.E.; Cooper, M.; Corrigan, S.; Harrison, E.; Wilcox, C. (2023). Seafood label quality and mislabelling rates hamper consumer choices for sustainability in Australia. NPG Scientific Reports 13(1): 10146. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-37066-4

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true

Access rights

open access

Is accessible for free

true