Do you know what you're eating? A new twist.

[HeresyLives]

Two U.S. high school students have used unique Canadian DNA technology to identify numerous mislabelled food products in New York City markets, deepening concerns over the widespread problem of fraudulence in the marketplace.

From mislabelled fish to cow's milk being passed off as pricey sheep's milk, the Grade 12 students said a high percentage of the foods they collected as samples were not what they were said to be.

Brenda Tan and Matt Cost of Trinity School in Manhattan gathered about 150 DNA samples from foods and objects in their homes and neighbourhood as part of a science project with Rockefeller University and the American Museum of Natural History. Ms. Tan said they found that 11 of the 66 fish, prepackaged and other food products bought largely at neighbourhood markets were mislabelled.

That included a specialty sheep's milk cheese that was actually made from cow's milk, venison dog treats made of beef, and sturgeon caviar that was really Mississippi paddlefish.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadian-technology-ids-mislabelled-food/article1413265/

[snagglepuss]

1. K & R nt

[louis-t]

2. Wow.

[supernova]

3. Wasn't there a scandal years ago

about mislabelled fish in the store?

Looks like they haven't corrected that situation at all. :-(

Great project for these kids though. :thumbsup:

I wonder if if the future we will all take such a hand held device to the store with us, to not only check price on a food , but also that it is what it says it is.

[HeresyLives]

5. You have to wonder how much of it ever

gets corrected, and how long it's been going on. I'm just glad we now have a way of detecting it!

[The Doctor.]

9. Oh, I can't wait until I get ahold of someone's and reprogram it...

to read "human" when they scan the Twinkies™. :evilgrin:

[HeresyLives]

18. Soylent Twinkies?

:rofl:

[Tailormyst]

16. I always find myself fortunate to be from New England

I have a fish market near my work and they carry a huge selection of locally caught fish. Even the salmon from the west coast is labeled as to exactly what river system it came from. You would think it would be expensive, but it's cheaper then at the chain stores. Alot of times the supermarket fish looks just horrible, and I don't trust the pre-breaded stuff, god only know what that is.

[MineralMan]

23. Minnesota has over 10,000 'catch your own' fish markets.

Those are the ones I patronize. A nice mess of fried sunfish or some catfish filets are just a short drive away and a little prep time. Yumm!

[Tailormyst]

28. I love to fish also

I don't have the same time I used to, but I still love seafood :)

[bvar22]

32. Lakes and Rivers in Minnesota...

..have warnings against eating the wild fish caught there due to high levels of mercury.
"Permissible" levels of consumption are One fish per month for adult males.

I used to live on a houseboat in the Mississippi River outside St Paul a few years ago.
It was sad to realize that you couldn't eat the fish the land of 10,000 Lakes.
Walleye Pike is one of my favorites.
I ate it anyway.

[Shallah Kali]

30. Article from Nov about fish fraud DNA Tests Uncover Sushi Fraud At Restaurants

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/sushi-fraud-dna-barcoding-tuna.php

The next time you order tuna at a sushi restaurant - watch out! - it may not be what you think it is. A team of scientists from Columbia University and the American Museum of Natural History conducting a genetic research project found that more than half of tuna ordered from 31 restaurants were "misrepresented" or selling endangered southern bluefin tuna. Some samples were not tuna at all, but escolar, a fish with fatty flesh that could pass as tuna but can cause diarrhea when consumed.

"A piece of tuna sushi has the potential to be an endangered species, a fraud or a health hazard," reports the authors. "All three of these cases were uncovered in this study."

The findings were actually a coincidence as the study's aim was to improve on a new method of species identification called DNA barcoding. The purpose is to collect fish DNA and to upload the information on a global database called FISH-BOL (now about 20 percent complete) so that users with a hand-held DNA reader can identify a fish in minutes.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/11/tunadna/
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007866

Another from last year

Sushi study finds deception
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/world/americas/22iht-fish.1.15539112.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=mark%20stoeckle&st=cse

[aquart]

4. Mississippi paddlefish make caviar? Cool.

[HeresyLives]

6. Heh, if you paid sturgeon prices for it,

you wouldn't find it so cool.

[aquart]

8. I can't afford sturgeon so I've probably never had it.

I'm not talking "roe" which are fish eggs...I'm talking caviar which is a premium delicacy. Taste tests?

[supernova]

11. Caviar is fish eggs

just Sturgeon eggs and preserved in salt.

[HeresyLives]

15. I've never bought it either.

But I do know sturgeon caviar is the most expensive kind, so I'd be more than peeved to know I'd paid a lot of money for something that wasn't 'as advertised.'

Kind of like buying a sirloin steak, and finding you got horsemeat instead.

[RebelOne]

13. I bought lumpfish roe for a recipe at Thanksgiving.

And a little tiny jar was $9. I wanted to use caviar, but it seems to be hard to find in the grocery stores.

From Wikipedia: The eggs of a lumpfish are known as lumpfish roe. Lumpfish roe is often sold as a caviar alternative, although some caviar fans have complained that unscrupulous caviar packers try to pass lumpfish roe off as true sturgeon roe, the source of real caviar. Before being sent to market, lumpfish eggs are salted for preservation and then canned; they are typically lightly salted to maintain a clear flavor, and they may need to be refrigerated as a result. Many markets sell lumpfish roe, along with other caviar alternatives and a few jars of the real deal.

[goldcanyonaz]

14. I use Salmon roe to make one of my husbands favorites; tarama.

[pansypoo53219]

7. all fish make roe

i saw perch eggs. maybe the rich would eat that too. shudder.

[MineralMan]

22. Caviar can come from any paddlefish. It's really good, too.

And expensive enough under its own name, too. Heck, I even like the cheapo lumpfish caviar. All fish eggs, prepared correctly, are good in their own right.

[MineralMan]

25. Go here to find just about any kind of caviar:

http://www.markys.com/caviar/customer/caspian-russian-caviar-malossol/

You'll be surprised at how many different kinds there are, and from how many kinds of fish. Click the speciality caviar link for more.

[Quantess]

10. "Olive oil" made from nuts

[CrispyQ]

12. snip...

“We don't know where it occurs, but most of the mislabelling involves substitution of something less expensive or desirable, which suggests it's done for profit.”

===
Empahsis added.

"...done for profit." What a surprise. :eyes:

[HeresyLives]

17. Yeah, and I imagine there's a LOT of profit in it.

And especially if you've never had it before, how would you know if there's something wrong about it?

Even if you did know, how could you prove it before this?

[gateley]

19. +1 nt

[blueworld]

20. I hope the cockroach was in the caviar & how much are the dog treats per lb? n/t

[CrispyQ]

21. Obviously the food manufacturers aren't concerned about the possibility of food allergies,

and the risk to consumers. It's the Ford Pinto thing all over again -- it's cheaper to risk a few lawsuits than to pay for the ingredients advertised.

The corporations, or rather, the corporate class that hides behind corporate protection, are out of control They are out of control & they are going to ruin every good thing on this planet with their insatiable greed & quest for profit.

[HeresyLives]

27. Good point!

And one I hadn't thot of. Thanks!

[Shallah Kali]

29. corporations are psychopaths

Remember the memos they found from Ford saying it was cheaper for them to pay the medical bills or a small settlement to the families of those injured or killed by the firestone tires blowing up on ford explorers than to do a recall?

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. K&R!

[MadHound]

26. Another reason for buying local

Get to know your food producers. Not only will you get tasty, healthy, nutritious food for a reasonable price, but you will actually be getting what you thought you bought.

[donheld]

31. k & R

[bvar22]

33. My Wife & I became so concerned..

..about the Corporate Food Delivery System in the US that we moved to The Woods in 2006 and started growing our own.
Unfortunately, we can't grow everything.
The stuff we can't grow ourselves (grain products, coffee, citrus, cooking oils, etc.) we try to buy in bulk with clearly identified sources, but with that stuff, you never really know.

Oh well.
We're old, and our efforts are worthwhile for the TASTE improvement alone.
I would have severe paranoia raising children on what passes for "food" today, especially the pre-packaged stuff.

[Overseas]

34. K&R. /nt