Sea fish fraud? A confirmation of Gadoid species food labelling

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Kyrova ◽  
Pavla Surmanova ◽  
Vladimir Ostry ◽  
Irena Rehurkova ◽  
Jiri Ruprich ◽  
...  

Purpose Gadoid fish and hake are the species of fishes most frequently imported to the Czech Republic. The purpose of this paper, cross-country hygiene study, is to determine sea fish fraud labelling on the Czech market and catering. Design/methodology/approach In total, 57 samples of commercial Gadoid fish product from different manufacturers, distributors and catering facilities were gathered. Gadidae family, hake (Merluccius spp. Raf.), saithe (Pollachius virens L.), Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.), Alaska pollock (Theragra chalcogramma Pall.), were detected in fish meat, fish products and fish meals by the qualitative PCR method. Findings In total, 47 samples were labelled as a Gadoid fish, which were confirmed in 43 cases. Six samples were labelled as a hake and were confirmed in five samples. Four samples were labelled as a fish fillets. Three samples of fish fillets were identified as a hake and one sample was detected as a mixture of Alaska pollock and Atlantic cod. Social implications In recent years, due to increasing interest from consumers in the sea fish meat market, accurate Identification of fish species has become more important. The mislabelling of sea fish species, whether intentional or not, was on observed on the Czech market and in catering facilities. Economic factors influence the accuracy of labelling of fish meat, which is a concern as mislabelling can threaten public health. Originality/value The study was concentrated on the monitoring of hygiene and quality of food products and catering facilities. This study provides greater awareness of the condition and quality of food on the market and to the extent of fraudulent practices amongst dealers and producers.

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 232-246
Author(s):  
Gopal Chandra Mandal ◽  
Kaushik Bose ◽  
Slawomir Koziel

Purpose – Developing countries like India, accounts for about 40 percent of undernourished children in the World and it is largely due to the result of dietary inadequacy in relation to their needs. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the changes in the nutritional status of the children, from their preschool days to the present primary school days. Design/methodology/approach – The present investigation was conducted at 20 Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) centers (Center-A) and 15 primary schools (Center-B) in Bali Gram Panchayat, Arambag, Hooghly District of West Bengal, India, at an interval of three to four years. A total of 1,012 children (boys=498; girls=514) aged two to six years old enrolled in these ICDS centers and a total of 603 children (boys=300, girls=303), aged five to ten years were studied from the 15 primary schools who were the beneficiaries of ICDS centers. Underweight (weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ)) and wasting (weight-for height Z-score (WHZ)) were used to assess the nutritional status. Findings – The nutritional situation (both in case of underweight and wasting) was better in Center B as compared with Center A. In general, the nutritional condition of boys was better than girls. Center had a very significant effect on both WAZ as well as WHZ, irrespective of age and sex. Sex has a significant impact only on WAZ. Interestingly, there was no significant sex-center interaction for both WAZ as well as WHZ. The children of the area were getting Mid Day Meal supplied through the school authorities which was comparatively better than the ICDS centers’ food supplementation. Better monitoring of nutritional supplementation at primary schools may be an important factor. Practical implications – In ICDS centers, only the Anganwari worker is responsible in running and implementing the programs offered by the Government. However, at primary schools, the active involvement of all the teachers to run the program may have effectively led to have better results. Furthermore, the Government's focus should not be only on the increase the area covered by the ICDS program, but focus should be to increase the quality of food supplied, proper monitoring of the implementation and increase the allocation of funds. Appropriate measures may be taken by the authorities regarding this. Originality/value – The results of the study will help in policy making in reducing the prevalence of undernutrition.


2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragan Tešanovic ◽  
Milovan Krasavcic ◽  
Bojana Miro Kalenjuk ◽  
Milijanko Portic ◽  
Snježana Gagic

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to determine the sensory quality of food in restaurants by professional food evaluators and to research the impact of education, age and number of employees on the quality of food. Design/methodology/approach – In the first phase five trained food tasters evaluated the sensory quality of food. In the second phase, the analysis of the structure of employees was done by establishing their level of education, age and number of employees. In the third phase the regression and correlation analysis was done with the aim to establish the impact of the level of education, age and number of employees on the sensory quality of food. Findings – The sensory evaluation has shown that the evaluated food is of moderate quality. Correlation matrix has shown that the education level of employees has a high impact on the sensory quality of food. There is a correlation between the number of employees, their age and their education. Practical implications – Obtained results are the indicators of the quality of food in restaurants in the region and they can serve for the improvement of quality. They have shown that education and staff training can contribute to a better quality of food. Established methodology can also contribute to the practical evaluation of quality. Originality/value – This paper is reflected on the specific application of methodology of the sensory analysis of food in restaurants. The paper pointed to the impact of employees on the sensory quality of food by statistical methods. Statistical results which point to the great impact of the level of education of employees on the sensory quality of food in restaurants are particularly valuable.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ø.J. Hansen ◽  
V. Puvanendran ◽  
J.P. Jøstensen ◽  
I.-B. Falk-Petersen

2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Even Sannes Riiser ◽  
Thomas H. A. Haverkamp ◽  
Srinidhi Varadharajan ◽  
Ørnulf Borgan ◽  
Kjetill S. Jakobsen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The relative importance of host-specific selection or environmental factors in determining the composition of the intestinal microbiome in wild vertebrates remains poorly understood. Here, we used metagenomic shotgun sequencing of individual specimens to compare the levels of intra- and interspecific variation of intestinal microbiome communities in two ecotypes (NEAC and NCC) of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) that have distinct behavior and habitats and three Gadidae species that occupy a range of ecological niches. Interestingly, we found significantly diverged microbiomes among the two Atlantic cod ecotypes. Interspecific patterns of variation are more variable, with significantly diverged communities for most species’ comparisons, apart from the comparison between coastal cod (NCC) and Norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii), whose community compositions are not significantly diverged. The absence of consistent species-specific microbiomes suggests that external environmental factors, such as temperature, diet, or a combination thereof, comprise major drivers of the intestinal community composition of codfishes. IMPORTANCE The composition of the intestinal microbial community associated with teleost fish is influenced by a diversity of factors, ranging from internal factors (such as host-specific selection) to external factors (such as niche occupation). These factors are often difficult to separate, as differences in niche occupation (e.g., diet, temperature, or salinity) may correlate with distinct evolutionary trajectories. Here, we investigate four gadoid species with contrasting levels of evolutionary separation and niche occupation. Using metagenomic shotgun sequencing, we observed distinct microbiomes among two Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) ecotypes (NEAC and NCC) with distinct behavior and habitats. In contrast, interspecific patterns of variation were more variable. For instance, we did not observe interspecific differentiation between the microbiomes of coastal cod (NCC) and Norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii), whose lineages underwent evolutionary separation over 20 million years ago. The observed pattern of microbiome variation in these gadoid species is therefore most parsimoniously explained by differences in niche occupation.


Aquaculture ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 252 (2-4) ◽  
pp. 409-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oddhild Førde-Skjærvik ◽  
Olaf Skjærvik ◽  
Turid Mørkøre ◽  
Magny S. Thomassen ◽  
Kjell-Arne Rørvik

2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (6) ◽  
pp. 1058-1068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsi Silvennoinen ◽  
Juha-Matti Katajajuuri ◽  
Hanna Hartikainen ◽  
Lotta Heikkilä ◽  
Anu Reinikainen

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the volume and quality of food waste in Finnish households and discuss drivers for waste being produced. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 380 households weighed all solid food waste and liquid milk waste daily each time they disposed food during a two-week period. The authors concentrated only on avoidable food waste, i.e. all wasted food and raw material that could have been consumed, had they been stored or prepared differently. Other biowaste, such as vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, or bones, was not measured. Findings – The amount of food waste in households ranged from 0 to 160 kg/year. The average annual food waste was 23 kg per capita, 63 kg per household, and in total about 120 million kg/year. When comparing purchased food amount with avoidable food waste, the average waste was about 4-5 per cent. The main discarded foodstuffs were vegetables, home-cooked food and milk products. The principal reasons for disposing of foodstuffs were spoilage: e.g. mould, expiry of best before or use by date, plate leftovers, and preparing more food than needed. When examining waste per person, singles generally produced most waste. Practical implications – Knowledge about food waste will help development of new practices to decrease waste. Originality/value – The study estimated amounts of food waste in households using diaries and weighing. Such studies have often been based on statistics or interviews rather than exact weighing of waste.


2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 1258-1268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Björn Björnsson

Abstract In marine fisheries, considerable development has occurred in capture technology. Yet, some of the current fishing methods impact the environment by large greenhouse gas emission, harmful effects to benthic communities, and/or high bycatch of juvenile and unwanted species. It is proposed that for some fish species these deficiencies could be mitigated by classical conditioning using sound and food reward to concentrate wild fish before capture with environmentally friendly fishing gear. Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), which globally is among the fish species with the highest landed value, can be acoustically trained. In a sea cage, it takes about a week to train a group of naïve cod to associate low frequency (250 Hz) sound with food, whereas the training of a group of naïve cod accompanied with one trained cod takes less than a day. In inshore areas, it takes a few weeks to attract thousands of cod to stations where food is regularly delivered. These conditioned cod wait at the stations for their meals and do not mingle much with the unconditioned cod which hunt for wild prey. It is suggested that by calling acoustically conditioned fish between stations, a much larger number of naïve fish can be gathered. This so-called fish aggregating sound technique (FAST) may thus facilitate the accumulation of wild fish and expedite their capture with a purse seine or a trap in a way that minimizes fuel consumption and mortality of juveniles and unwanted species. The operation of FAST requires exclusive rights of a designated fishing area. The exclusivity makes it possible to on-grow the fish in free-ranging schools and sea cages for several months to increase their size and food quality before capture.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ragnhild Aven Svalheim ◽  
Øyvind Aas-Hansen ◽  
Karsten Heia ◽  
Anders Karlsson-Drangsholt ◽  
Stein Harris Olsen ◽  
...  

AbstractTrawl-caught Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) often yield highly variable fillet quality that may be related to capture stress. To investigate mechanisms involved in causing variable quality, commercial-sized (3.5±0.9 kg) Atlantic cod were swum to exhaustion in a large swim tunnel and subsequently exposed to extreme crowding (736±50 kg m-3) for 0, 1 or 3 hours in an experimental cod-end. The fish were then recuperated for 0, 3 or 6 hours in a net pen prior to slaughter to assess the possibility to reverse the reduced fillet quality. We found that exhaustive swimming and crowding were associated with increased metabolic stress, as indicated by increased plasma cortisol, blood lactate and blood haematocrit levels, accompanied by reduced quality of the fillets due to increased visual redness and lower initial muscle pH. The observed negative effects of exhaustive swimming and crowding were only to a small degree reversed within 6 hours of recuperation. The results from this study suggest that exhaustive swimming followed by extreme crowding can reduce fillet quality and contribute to the variable fillet quality seen in trawl-caught Atlantic cod. Recuperation for more than six hours may be required to reverse these effects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Annette Smith ◽  
Andrea White-McNeil ◽  
Faizan Ali

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the students’ perceptions of an on-campus foodservice operation at an identified historically black college and university (HBCU) and its effect on their satisfaction and dining frequency. Design/methodology/approach A survey of 685 students was conducted to collect data. Partial least squares based structural equation modeling is used to test the proposed structural model with SmartPLS 3.0. Findings Results confirm that quality of food, ambience, value for money, food and beverage options and service quality have a positively significant impact on students’ overall satisfaction with the on-campus foodservice operation and dining frequency. As such, all the hypotheses are supported. Research limitations/implications These findings indicate that on-campus foodservice operators should focus on quality of food, ambience, value for money, food and beverage options and service quality to achieve student satisfaction. This in turn could positively impact the institution’s reputation, student retention and the marketability of the institution to future students. Originality/value This study would help on-campus foodservice operators to better understand the impact of the various elements of foodservice experience which will lead to students’ overall satisfaction and dining frequency, particularly in a HBCU setting.


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