US toughens up against seafood fraud

SEAFOOD fraud, the mislabeling or substituting of fish for another, remains a huge problem in the United States, where according to the advocacy group, Oceana, nearly one-third of fish is misrepresented. The country imports some 90% of its seafood.

To prevent the entry of mislabeled or illegally-caught fish, the US government introduced the Presidential Task Force on Combatting Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and Seafood Fraud, in December 2014, which primarily aims to create a traceability program.

On reviewing the government’s document, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Global Food Traceability Center (GFTC) recently presented its comments on how best to implement the tasks. View these recommendations.  

The GFTC will also publish a report on seafood traceability in February.

“Most of the resources, tools, and technology required for implementation of seafood traceability exist,” said William Fisher, IFT vice president of Science & Policy Initiatives and head of the GFTC. “It is clear that there are compelling reasons for industry and governments to work together to respond to mounting pressures to implement or improve traceability in the seafood industry. The GFTC welcomes the opportunity to serve and assist the seafood industry and governments in moving seafood traceability forward.”

GFTC is a science-based, not-for-profit public-private partnership launched by IFT in 2013 to gather key stakeholders in the food system to collaborate on traceability solutions and serve as an authoritative source about food traceability. It assists companies and government agencies to better understand the nature of food traceability requirements, to improve responsiveness and reliability in the event of food-related emergencies, and to increase the value and commercial benefits of food traceability.