Fake fish on our table

Did you know that the fish you eat may not be what you think, the tuna in your salad may be fake or the salmon fillets you buy in the supermarket may not be fake either, it may be that you are being the victim of food fraud without giving you account.

This scam happens basically every time you go to the supermarket or the fishmonger and they give you as we say in Latin America "pig in a poke", here are some of the most common examples of how they deceive us all And believe me no matter where you look at me it's almost a fact that you have been eating fake fish on more than one occasion.

Starting with Mexico, according to a study carried out in 2021 by the Autonomous University of Baja California in Mexico, 31.8% of the fish sold is fake, in other words, 3 out of every 10 fish sold in Mexico are fake in that they They are not what they tell you they are, but there are other adulterations. This data is already shocking in itself, but it becomes even more worrying when we compare it with the global context.

At the international level, the situation is not much better, studies have shown that fish fraud is a huge problem that affects everyone, but some cases stand out that are even more serious and one of them is also separate in Chile, one of the largest countries that consume fish all over the world, so what happens in their fishing industry can have a domino effect throughout the Latin American continent.

According to data provided by Oceana, an international organization focused on the protection of the oceans, false fish in Chile reaches especially worrying levels. Oceana carried out an exhaustive investigation in which it collected fish samples at 674 points of sale throughout 21 Chilean states. and the results were impressive: 87% of the samples that were supposed to be snapper, for example, were not actually snapper, that is, nine out of ten fish of this type were false.

What's more, it was mislabeled on purpose with 59%, that is, six of every tuna sold were fake, this means that more than half of the times someone buys white tuna in Chile, they are not really buying tuna, but the problem Not just limited to Chile or Mexico or These types of fish Ocean's research also found that between one-third and one-fifth of permit, cod, grouper, Chilean sea bass and other fish were mislabeled.

We might think that this problem is limited only to certain establishments, but in reality it is very different, Oceana's research also showed that Sushi restaurants, for example, 74% of establishments had sold at least one sample of fake fish and in others restaurants this percentage was also 38% and in food stores and supermarkets it reached up to 18%.

Fish fraud is not an exception but the rule and what is worse is not limited to just one country or region, but is a global phenomenon that is totally out of control and affects millions of consumers across the planet, This massive fake fish fraud can take any number of forms from substituting one species for another to manipulating weights and sizes to incorrect nutrition information and misleading labelling, and it's not a new problem but one that's getting worse and worse. worse.

In 2016, for example, a report from the international ocean organization revealed that 20% of the 25,000 fish samples analyzed around the world were not what they said they were, but in recent years the situation has gotten completely out of control.

A more recent study from precisely 2023 carried out by the University of Oviedo in Spain has brought to light data that should alarm us all about the prevalence of this problem in the global fishing industry, the investigation reveals friends that up to 40% of the tuna steaks sold in supermarkets across the country may not be tuna at all, to put it in a way 4 out of 10 tuna steaks you buy in a supermarket are fake, they are probably giving you another species of fish and in many cases also add dangerous chemicals, this subtle substitution can lead to what we might call fake tuna.

In addition, some species of fake fish may contain higher levels of contaminants and toxins, according to a study conducted by the University of Nevada in 2022. Escolar, for example, a common substitute for tuna, tends to have higher levels of methylmercury, a potentially neurotoxic In addition, harmful species such as pangaceus, often used as a substitute for sea bream, are raised on agricultural farms in countries with less stringent quality standards and this can result in a greater risk of contamination by antibiotics and other chemicals.

The toxicity of these contaminants and chemicals can present very great risks to human health, methylmercury for example can cause serious damage to the nervous system, especially in fetuses and young children. Although we are all exposed to small amounts of mercury through our diet and environment Exposure to higher levels of methylmercury can cause symptoms of loss of coordination, muscle weakness, speech and vision disturbances, and of course hearing damage, and in the long term, continued exposure to methylmercury can cause serious health problems such as heart disease and Irreversible brain damage, the complete opposite of what we were looking for when buying an alleged tuna that turned out to be fake.