sushi (2)

A spokesman for the European Commission has told Intrafish that fish is being treated with vegetable colours and nitrite to give it a purple reddish hue so that it can be sold as expensive tuna species. The fraud is mainly occurring in Italy, France and Spain, where much of it ends up in the sushi market, and the cost of the fraud to consumers could be 200 million Euros.  

Read the article at: Tuna colouring fraud

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There has been a large increase in Sushi restaurants in recent years around the world, but in Europe and North America in particular. Studies have indicated that fish species substitution is widespread in the US restaurants, so a study was commissioned into English Sushi restaurants to see if similar levels were occurring. 115 samples were collected from 31 restaurants from 6 English cities, and analysed using DNA sequencing of cytochromeoxidase. Overall substitution levels were around 10%, which is much lower than that found in US restaurants and also indicates better inspections and enforcement regimes in England.   

Read the full study at:  https://peerj.com/articles/1891/

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