Products with different degrees of processing of wild-caught and farmed fish were bought in shops and attempted traced back to the fishing vessel or the fish farm. Demands from markets and authorities for food safety and traceability was the background for the study.
In the study, 16 different fish products were bought in shops. Twelve of these were based on wild-caught fish and four were based on farmed fish.
The starting point for the tracing was marking on consumer packaging or information from the personnel at the fresh food counter. For the products in consumer packaging with contact information, this was used as a basis for tracing; as for the rest, the shops or the chains were contacted.
Lack of systematics
Even though the selection of the products in the simulated recall was relatively small, the situation within the industry is unsatisfactory when it was not possible to find raw material sources for six of these, i.e. almost 40% of the products.
In the shops where tracing was possible, this was based largely on the knowledge and presence of key persons rather than on systematic registrations.
Can have large consequences
"This can mean that large quantities must be withdrawn because it is not practically possible to withdraw a limited product volume", says Scientist Kine Mari Karlsen at Fiskeriforskning.
The study was conducted by SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture and Fiskeriforskning in collaboration with the Norwegian Fishermen?s Association and the Norwegian Seafood Association. The project was financed by the Fishery and Aquaculture Industry Research Fund.
