Economic evaluation of seafood mislabeling in Spain

Food fraud, which affects different food products, is a global and old problem with negative effects for society and whose economic impact is difficult to estimate. Seafood mislabeling (a specific food fraud) constitutes a pervasive issue worldwide with significant environmental, social, and economic repercussions across the entire value chain. The aim of this work is to conduct an economic evaluation of the seafood mislabeling in Spain. Our estimations are based on the annual seafood consumption and expenditure by the Spanish households as well as on the mislabeling rates of varied species groups, product formats, and retail selling points, obtained through a systematic review of different studies. We have used the jackknife resampling method to estimate the mean rates of mislabeling in Spain because it provides better estimations with biased samples as well as statistical confidence intervals. Gadoid and scombrid are the two species groups most affected by mislabeling due to the high expenditure of these species and their high mislabeling rates of around 20 %. On the other hand, retail channels, as fishmongers and traditional markets, and product formats, as canned and prepared food, present the highest rates of seafood mislabeling in Spain. We have estimated that the consumers’ economic loss caused by seafood mislabeling in Spain is €320.1 million (7 % of the total annual expenditure on the fish species analyzed in this research). Our recommendation to reduce seafood mislabeling is a combination of improvements in the products' traceability, a larger control over the enforcement of the labeling legal norms, as well as an increase of the seafood buyers' or consumers' awareness. • First study evaluating the economic impact of seafood mislabeling in Spain. • Fishmongers and traditional markets present the highest rate of seafood mislabeling. • The higher the level of processing, the greater the incidence of fraud. • The seafood consumption affected by mislabeling in Spain is €683.3 million. • We estimate that consumers’ loss is 7 % of the total households’ expenditure.