This month, the FDA launched a DNA-barcode library for 250 fish species, which can be accessed by outside labs and the public. The library is the result of a collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution to standardize testing methods using DNA sequencing in order to combat seafood fraud. Popular seafood such as red snapper, wild salmon and Atlantic cod are sometimes mislabeled as lower-priced fish. Lab company ACGT stated that on average 20%–25% of the seafood it is asked to test is mislabeled. Nine FDA labs are now equipped with sequencers to test retail and wholesale samples of valuable fish species. The library grew out of the FDA’s work with the University of Guelph’s Consortium for the Barcode of Life. Jonathan Deeds of the FDA estimated that the tests cost only $10 per sample. The barcoding test can be used with fish that are raw, frozen or cooked, although testing canned fish can be more complicated and the origin of the fish cannot be determined without a genetic marker. The FDA is currently working on a crustacean database and is considering applying the test to pet food and wild game.

Source: Scientific American