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By Fred, January 4, 2010 7:21 am

A recent New York Times article discussed the adventures of a pair of students from Manhattan’s Trinity School as they collected DNA samples for analysis by Dr. Mark Stoeckle of Rockefeller University.

The most fascinating mention in the article was that one in six (11 out of 66 to be precise) of the typical household food items were mislabeled, ”including sheep’s milk cheese that was in fact made of cow’s milk, venison dog treats that were made of beef and sturgeon caviar that was actually Mississippi paddlefish.”

Because of the differences between animal cell structure and those of plants, DNA barcoding, as discussed in the article, still is a long way away from being helpful in our efforts to identify wheat, barley and rye to avoid gluten.

Creating mechanisms by which consumers can double check manufacturer’s statements about food contents creates interesting dynamics in any setting. As such mechanisms become more socially acceptable and a fact of life for complex supply chains, such as the food industry, they will benefit those of us who pursue specialty diets.

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By Fred, December 5, 2009 5:45 pm

Sushi is being identified through genetic means

The WSJ just published a great article on the use of DNA ‘barcodes’ for speciation of food products.  Unfortunately, species identification is much simpler in animals than it is in plants.   While the methods employed are not immediately valuable, they do show that clear identification of food products and their components continues to grow as a societal issue.

The article, reported by Robert Lee Hotz, outlines how rapid genetic sequencing is increasingly being used to identify animals for food, environmental and other reasons.  He focuses on a recent test of 68 samples from 31 sushi restaurants in New York and Denver (why would you eat Sushi in Denver?) which found that restaurant patrons weren’t always getting what they ordered.  Lower cost, endangered, and even potentially dangerous fish species were served in their place.

A similar survey in Canada of 18 sushi restaurants found that half the orders were mislabeled.  A 2004 study by the University of North Carolina estimated that 3/4 of all snapper sold in the US was mislabeled.

This also matters for food labeling and species conservation.  Current guidelines restrict the label Grouper to 33 species of fish.

This has profound implications for all of us who are concerned about the presenece of gluten, or other foods, in our diets.  We are not alone.  Almost as important as the health, safety and species conservation aspects of this article is the fact that there are clear economic implications.  It matters what people eat; there is money to be had for those who pay attention.