Fishy business in Seattle: Salmon mislabeling fraud in sushi restaurants vs grocery stores

Salmon is the most commonly consumed finfish in the United States of America (USA), and the mislabeling of salmon is a widespread problem. Washington State is a global supplier of wild-caught Pacific salmon and local salmon mislabeling results in substantial economic, ecological, and cultural impacts. Previous studies in Washington State identified high levels of mislabeled salmon in both markets and restaurants, resulting in local legislation being passed that requires proper labeling of salmon products, including identifying it as wild-caught or farm-raised. To investigate whether recent legislative efforts reduced salmon fraud rates, we acquired and genetically barcoded salmon samples from 67 grocery stores and 52 sushi restaurants in Seattle, Washington. DNA from each salmon sample was isolated and the cytochrome c oxidase gene was sequenced to identify the fish species. Our study, conducted from 2022-2023, revealed 18% of salmon samples from both grocery stores and sushi restaurants were mislabeled. While most samples were acquired during the fall months when wild salmon is in season, we still observed a high salmon mislabeling rate. Unlike grocery stores, Seattle sushi restaurants often sold farmed salmon mislabeled as wild salmon. Specifically, substitutions of vendor-claimed wild salmon with farmed salmon occurred in 32.3% of sushi restaurant samples compared to 0% of grocery store samples. Additionally, occurrences of wild salmon being substituted with another salmon species (wild or farmed) occurred in 38.7% of sushi restaurant samples compared to 11.1% of grocery store samples. All salmon substitutions in sushi restaurants harmed the customer financially as they were given a cheaper market-priced fish. In grocery stores, however, we did not detect significant economic loss to customers due to salmon mislabeling. Taken together, it is important to continue to develop and enforce legislation in Washington State that prevents salmon fraud and promotes ecologically sustainable fishing practices.

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Publication Details

Journal
PLoS ONE
Published
2024-11-06
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0311522
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Identification and Quantification in Food
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.70
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article

Fishy business in Seattle: Salmon mislabeling fraud in sushi restaurants vs grocery stores

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PLoS ONE
Identification and Quantification in Food
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Fishy business in Seattle: Salmon mislabeling fraud in sushi restaurants vs grocery stores

Jordyn F. DeJong, Timothy A. Nelson, M. S. Ewing, Jewel L. Garcia, Eric S. Long, Allen H. Heller, Evan Nguyen, Dulce Sofía Barrientos Torres, Tracie Delgado, Henry T. Nguyen, W.C. Hanson, Esperanza Arce Delgado, L. Bildstein Keith, Matthew R. Garrett, Rodrigo Asfury Rodrigues, Adrián J. Hernández, Ahmed Qassim Al-Awadi, Bennie Graves, S. Michael Dean, Jeff Larkin, Yaxelis Mendoza, Nguyen Nguyen, I. Camarillo, Andrew Dean, Sharon E. Fleming, S. Raymond, H. A. Büller, Mohamed Hafez, M. Rice, M Knoke, K. Case, Hera Beatrice F. Cadelina, Renske J. Dupar, Yennifer A. Gaspar, Delina N. Filli, Elizabeth K. Horton, Ellie G. Jancola, Angelique Djekoundade, Andre’ G. Marineau, Fabiola Martin-Ortiz, Olivia L. Mayer, Peter V. Nalivayko, Mhicca Dalere, Griffin L. Ovenell, Lay G. Paw, Janetta J. Redzic, Jonathan M. Savell, Ben R. Sheirbon, Kalena A. Warrick, Marjolene Allossogbe, Thania C. P. Allossogbe, Itzel S. Aparicio, Emma N. Ely
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Salmon is the most commonly consumed finfish in the United States of America (USA), and the mislabeling of salmon is a widespread problem. Washington State is a global supplier of wild-caught Pacific salmon and local salmon mislabeling results in substantial economic, ecological, and cultural impacts. Previous studies in Washington State identified high levels of mislabeled salmon in both markets and restaurants, resulting in local legislation being passed that requires proper labeling of salmon products, including identifying it as wild-caught or farm-raised. To investigate whether recent legislative efforts reduced salmon fraud rates, we acquired and genetically barcoded salmon samples from 67 grocery stores and 52 sushi restaurants in Seattle, Washington. DNA from each salmon sample was isolated and the cytochrome c oxidase gene was sequenced to identify the fish species. Our study, conducted from 2022-2023, revealed 18% of salmon samples from both grocery stores and sushi restaurants were mislabeled. While most samples were acquired during the fall months when wild salmon is in season, we still observed a high salmon mislabeling rate. Unlike grocery stores, Seattle sushi restaurants often sold farmed salmon mislabeled as wild salmon. Specifically, substitutions of vendor-claimed wild salmon with farmed salmon occurred in 32.3% of sushi restaurant samples compared to 0% of grocery store samples. Additionally, occurrences of wild salmon being substituted with another salmon species (wild or farmed) occurred in 38.7% of sushi restaurant samples compared to 11.1% of grocery store samples. All salmon substitutions in sushi restaurants harmed the customer financially as they were given a cheaper market-priced fish. In grocery stores, however, we did not detect significant economic loss to customers due to salmon mislabeling. Taken together, it is important to continue to develop and enforce legislation in Washington State that prevents salmon fraud and promotes ecologically sustainable fishing practices.

PLoS ONEVol. 19(11)
Seattle Pacific University (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 29%
Identification and Quantification in Food
0.70
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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