Mislabelling and high mercury content hampers the efforts of market-based seafood initiatives in Peru

Abstract Peru is experiencing a “gastronomic boom” that is increasing the demand for seafood. We investigated two implicit assumptions of two popular sustainable seafood consumer-based initiatives: (1) seafood is labelled correctly, and (2) the recommended species are healthy for consumers. We used...

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Autores principales:	Daniella Biffi, Andrea López-Mobilia, Shaleyla Kelez, Dean A. Williams, Matthew M. Chumchal, Molly Weinburgh
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2020
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/6b9cfce0eb714711a29914781d2d984a
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:6b9cfce0eb714711a29914781d2d984a2021-12-02T16:08:47ZMislabelling and high mercury content hampers the efforts of market-based seafood initiatives in Peru10.1038/s41598-020-77338-x2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/6b9cfce0eb714711a29914781d2d984a2020-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77338-xhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Peru is experiencing a “gastronomic boom” that is increasing the demand for seafood. We investigated two implicit assumptions of two popular sustainable seafood consumer-based initiatives: (1) seafood is labelled correctly, and (2) the recommended species are healthy for consumers. We used DNA barcoding to determine the taxonomic identity of 449 seafood samples from markets and restaurants and analysed the concentration of total mercury (THg) in a sub-sample (271 samples) of these. We found that a third of seafood is mislabelled and that over a quarter of all samples had mercury levels above the upper limit recommended by the US EPA (300 ng/g ww). Additionally, 30% of samples were threatened and protected species. Mislabelling often occurred for economic reasons and the lack of unique common names. Mislabelled samples also had significantly higher mercury concentrations than correctly labelled samples. The “best choice” species compiled from two sustainable seafood guides had less mislabelling, and when identified correctly through DNA barcoding, had on average lower mercury than the other species. Nevertheless, some high mercury species are included in these lists. Mislabelling makes the efforts of seafood campaigns less effective as does the inclusion of threatened species and species high in mercury.Daniella BiffiAndrea López-MobiliaShaleyla KelezDean A. WilliamsMatthew M. ChumchalMolly WeinburghNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Daniella Biffi Andrea López-Mobilia Shaleyla Kelez Dean A. Williams Matthew M. Chumchal Molly Weinburgh Mislabelling and high mercury content hampers the efforts of market-based seafood initiatives in Peru
description	Abstract Peru is experiencing a “gastronomic boom” that is increasing the demand for seafood. We investigated two implicit assumptions of two popular sustainable seafood consumer-based initiatives: (1) seafood is labelled correctly, and (2) the recommended species are healthy for consumers. We used DNA barcoding to determine the taxonomic identity of 449 seafood samples from markets and restaurants and analysed the concentration of total mercury (THg) in a sub-sample (271 samples) of these. We found that a third of seafood is mislabelled and that over a quarter of all samples had mercury levels above the upper limit recommended by the US EPA (300 ng/g ww). Additionally, 30% of samples were threatened and protected species. Mislabelling often occurred for economic reasons and the lack of unique common names. Mislabelled samples also had significantly higher mercury concentrations than correctly labelled samples. The “best choice” species compiled from two sustainable seafood guides had less mislabelling, and when identified correctly through DNA barcoding, had on average lower mercury than the other species. Nevertheless, some high mercury species are included in these lists. Mislabelling makes the efforts of seafood campaigns less effective as does the inclusion of threatened species and species high in mercury.
format	article
author	Daniella Biffi Andrea López-Mobilia Shaleyla Kelez Dean A. Williams Matthew M. Chumchal Molly Weinburgh
author_facet	Daniella Biffi Andrea López-Mobilia Shaleyla Kelez Dean A. Williams Matthew M. Chumchal Molly Weinburgh
author_sort	Daniella Biffi
title	Mislabelling and high mercury content hampers the efforts of market-based seafood initiatives in Peru
title_short	Mislabelling and high mercury content hampers the efforts of market-based seafood initiatives in Peru
title_full	Mislabelling and high mercury content hampers the efforts of market-based seafood initiatives in Peru
title_fullStr	Mislabelling and high mercury content hampers the efforts of market-based seafood initiatives in Peru
title_full_unstemmed	Mislabelling and high mercury content hampers the efforts of market-based seafood initiatives in Peru
title_sort	mislabelling and high mercury content hampers the efforts of market-based seafood initiatives in peru
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/6b9cfce0eb714711a29914781d2d984a
work_keys_str_mv	AT daniellabiffi mislabellingandhighmercurycontenthamperstheeffortsofmarketbasedseafoodinitiativesinperu AT andrealopezmobilia mislabellingandhighmercurycontenthamperstheeffortsofmarketbasedseafoodinitiativesinperu AT shaleylakelez mislabellingandhighmercurycontenthamperstheeffortsofmarketbasedseafoodinitiativesinperu AT deanawilliams mislabellingandhighmercurycontenthamperstheeffortsofmarketbasedseafoodinitiativesinperu AT matthewmchumchal mislabellingandhighmercurycontenthamperstheeffortsofmarketbasedseafoodinitiativesinperu AT mollyweinburgh mislabellingandhighmercurycontenthamperstheeffortsofmarketbasedseafoodinitiativesinperu
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Mislabelling and high mercury content hampers the efforts of market-based seafood initiatives in Peru

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