Students Use DNA Barcodes to Unmask “Mislabeled” Fish at Grocery Stores, Restaurants
- High school friends make first student use of DNA barcodes in public marketplaces
- One-quarter of 56 fish samples from 14 stores, restaurants in Upper Manhattan revealed to be cheaper or endangered fish species.
- Mozambique Tilapia sold as “White Tuna” in sushi
Two New York City high school friends, curious about new DNA barcoding technology, discovered that fish at local stores and restaurants are commonly mislabeled and sold for far more than regular market price.
Worse, in two cases DNA barcode tests revealed that filleted fish sold as the popular Red Snapper (caught mostly off the southeast U.S. and in the Caribbean) was instead the endangered Acadian Redfish (which swims in the North Atlantic).
The students’ report marks the first marketplace application of the four-year-old DNA barcoding technology.
Contact
Mr. Terry Collins
416-538-8712
terrycollins@rogers.com
Jesse Ausubel
Program for the Human Environment, The Rockefeller University
212-327-7842
ausubel@rockefeller.edu
Kevin Ramsey
Trinity School
kevin.ramsey@trinityschoolnyc.org
Documents
a related paper on identifying Canadian freshwater fishes through DNA barcoding
Images
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Mislabeled fish: tuna = tilapia |
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Mislabeled fish: red snapperRed Snapper Lutjanus campechanus Lavender Jobfish Pristipomoides sieboldii |
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The authorsKate Stoeckle and Louisa Strauss |
Useful links
- Encyclopedia of Life: www.eol.org
- Barcode of Life Database: www.barcodinglife.org
- Consortium for the Barcode of Life: barcoding.si.edu
- Barcoding marine species: www.marinebarcoding.org
- FishBol: www.fishbol.org
- Barcoding blog: http://phe.rockefeller.edu/barcode/blog
- Ten Reasons for Barcoding Life: http://phe.rockefeller.edu/barcode/docs/TenReasonsBarcoding.pdf
- "Barcode of Life" Scientific American, October 2008: http://phe.rockefeller.edu/docs/BarcodeScientificAmerican.2008.10.pdf
URL: http://phe.rockefeller.edu/mislabeledfish
Last updated: Sunday, 05-Oct-2008 13:02:27 EDT
