A high-quality genetic reference database for European commercial fishes reveals substitution fraud of processed Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ) and common sole ( Solea solea ) at different steps in the Belgian supply chain

• Published in: Food and Chemical Toxicology
• Main Authors: Deconinck, Dumas, Volckaert, Filip A.M., Hostens, Kris, Panicz, Remigiusz, Eljasik, Piotr, Faria, Miguel, Monteiro, Carolina Sousa, Robbens, Johan, Derycke, Sofie
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020
• Subjects: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Food Science & Technology; Toxicology; DNA barcoding; COI and cytB; EU fish; Substitution fraud; Belgian supply chain; Atlantic cod; Common sole; DNA; AUTHENTICATION; IDENTIFICATION; ALIGNMENT; PRIMERS; BARCODE; MARKET; GAP; Animals; Belgium; Commerce; Taxonomic; Databases; Genetic; Flatfishes; Food Supply; Forensic Genetics; Fraud; Gadus morhua; Species Specificity; 0908 Food Sciences; Food Science; 3006 Food sciences; 3214 Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences; atlantic cod
• Online Access: https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/20.500.12942/693703; https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12942/693703; https://lirias.kuleuven.be/retrieve/659564; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2020.111417; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32437897

Seafood is an important component of the human diet. With depleting fish stocks and increasing prices, seafood is prone to fraudulent substitution. DNA barcoding has illustrated fraudulent substitution of fishes in retail and restaurants. Whether substitution also occurs in other steps of the supply chain remains largely unknown. DNA barcoding relies on public reference databases for species identification, but these can contain incorrect identifications. The creation of a high quality genetic reference database for 42 European commercially important fishes was initiated containing 145 Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and 152 Cytochrome b (cytB) sequences. This database was used to identify substitution rates of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and common sole (Solea solea) along the fish supply chain in Belgium using DNA barcoding. Three out of 132 cod samples were substituted, in catering (6%), import (5%) and fishmongers (3%). Seven out of the 41 processed sole samples were substituted, in wholesale (100%), food services (50%), retailers (20%) and catering (8%). Results show that substitution of G. morhua and S. solea is not restricted to restaurants, but occurs in other parts of the supply chain, warranting for more stringent controls along the supply chain to increase transparency and trust among consumers. sponsorship: We thank the scientists at ILVO who helped with sampling, Tom Putteman for help in the lab, and Bart Ampe for help with the initial power calculations and design for the substitution experiment. This research is part of the EU Horizon2020 project SEAFOOD TOMORROW . This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 funding programme, Grant Agreement no. 773400 (SEAFOODTOMORROW). This output reflects the views of the author(s), and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use that might be made of the information contained therein. M. A. Faria thanks "Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia" the researcher contract and financial support from the project ...