Brussels, 03/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - A study by the Oceana NGO, which is active in the protection of the oceans, published a study on Tuesday 3 November, which illustrates that 31.8% of fish served in restaurants in Brussels, do not correspond to the species ordered by consumers.
Oceana carried out DNA testing of 280 fish samples collected (between March and June 2015) in some of the main restaurants in Brussels near the EU institutions and European Commission and European Parliament canteens (more than 150 restaurants were targeted in the investigation). The study focused on some of the busiest and most expensive species: bluefin tuna, common sole and cod. The laboratory samples analysed were subject to DNA extraction and identification by Biogenomics (Catholic University of Leuven)
The results demonstrate that a 31.8% level of incorrect labelling existed overall. More than 77% of samples were taken from some of the most popular restaurants in the European quarter and town centre and 15% came from EP and Commission canteens. The rest came from sushi restaurants.
The study discovered that: the level of bluefin tuna fraud stood at 95% (Mediterranean and Atlantic). This rare and expensive species is mostly replaced by tropical tuna species (72% by a lower quality yellow fin tuna and 22% by bigeye tuna, despite this species being overfished); 11% in sole fraud. Common sole was substituted for by another cheaper flatfish species, such as Japanese dab or even pangasius, a freshwater fish species bred in Vietnam in dubious sanitary conditions; 13% of cod fraud (replaced by 10 different spaces such as pollock, hake or pangasius).
Oceana did not establish at what stage of the production chain fraud is being practised but it appears that certain rather unscrupulous chefs are not hesitating to practice fraud in order to obtain more money. The investigation shows for example that false sole was sold in restaurants at an average of €17 as opposed to real sole for €27, which hooks the customers in at what appear to be cheap prices. It is all the same to the restaurant owners who use, for example, pangasius, which is much less expensive than sole! The hake sold in restaurants or canteens in the European quarter is most often (57%) pollock, which is less expensive.
38.1% of EU canteens
In addition, Oceana has discovered that 38.1% of fish species (out of 38 samples) in restaurants and European institution canteens (Commission and EP), particularly involved cod, (black and yellow) pollock and hake. The level of fraud in sushi restaurants stood at 54.5% (out of 21 samples) and 28.7% in restaurants (a total of 215 samples).
During a conference,Lasse Gustavsson, executive director of Oceana in Europe, stated that this was not a criminal investigation and that they did not know who was responsible for fraud, whether it was the fishermen, distributors or restaurateurs but that it was probably a mixture of all of them. Gustavsson said that his organisation is worried that this fraud threatens the conservation of different fish species and that it means that “the door is left wide open to the laundering of illegal fishing products”. He also explained that poor labelling allowed “fish from the grey zone” to finish up on customers' plates and that the price of legally caught cod would fall. It could also cause health problems when certain rules are not respected (frozen products or those that cause allergies).
Lasse Gustavsson believes that Brussels is particularly bad because studies in France have shown that only 4% of fish products are mislabelled. He also believes that the study shows that the traceability and product labelling system of products from the sea is “not working”. He explained that there probably was widespread fraud because sometimes restaurateurs do not know what they are selling.
Oceana is advocating a traceability management system combined with good labelling to help “our oceans, wallets and our health and to re-establish consumer confidence”. This organisation is also calling on the EU to extend its detailed labelling rules focusing on non-processed fish to the hotel and catering sector, in an effort to tackle fraud. It also believes that EU governments have to guarantee a transparent and comprehensive system for traceability and clear labelling rules so as to facilitate informed consumer choice when it comes to legally sourced fish that are certifiably sustainable from when they are caught at sea to when they arrive on our plates. Oceana is also advising consumers to ask questions about the origin of the fish on their plates and to be wary about prices that could be too good to be true.
On Tuesday, the European Commission was questioned about this matter and despite being visibly embarrassed, indicated that it was taking the revelations very seriously regarding the problems in the EU canteens. It pointed out, however, that it was up to the Belgian health authorities to tackle the issue because they were responsible for the inspections. A Commission spokesperson explained “We cannot carry out inspections instead of the Belgian authorities”. He added that the Commission would be contacting the three companies involved in providing food to the EU canteens and that they would “ensure the necessary follow-up”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)