Unagi kabayaki, a grilled freshwater fish in soy sauce, is becoming increasingly popular. It can be found in many Japanese restaurants and is also available in Asian shops and specialist supermarkets. New research has shown that fraudsters are rampant in food labelling, with one third of products not complying with EU regulations regarding the provision of food information. Researchers say accurate labelling is essential if global eel trade is going to continue, as certain species are now in danger.The European eel, a critically endangered species, is strictly controlled and banned from export and import across EU borders. Although there was no evidence of illegal trade in European Eels in the products that they looked at, fraudsters are a sign that the EU and the UK's current labelling requirements are inadequate.Florian Stein, the German lead author of the Technische Universitt Braunschweig's DNA analysis, said that only DNA analysis was able to prove that more than ten per cent of unagi kabayaki fillets had been prepared from other species than the one indicated on the label. "Eel trafficking is a major wildlife crime, and consumers are becoming more aware about the origin of their products, the alarming level of evident labelling fraud is alarming."Researchers investigated the origin and labelling of 108 unagi-kabayaki products that were sold in the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and France. The researchers were unable to identify the species because they were prepared fillets that had been marinated in sauce. Researchers were able to pinpoint the species by using DNA, and then cross-referencing it with a global database. This allowed them to check the accuracy of every product label.Researchers discovered that all the European products they purchased were not made in Europe. All were imported from China or Taiwan. The products contained fillets from one species of eel. However, there were four species in the total sample group. Only one is found in Chinese waters. The American eel was found in 73 of the samples, as well as 33 Japanese eel. One sample each of Indian shortfin and European eel was also identified.Vincent Nijman (Professor in Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University, UK) said that "the presence of eels from different parts of the globe points to the global nature of trade in eel", and was one of the authors."American eel is shipped from the east coast to the US to south China where it is processed into eel fillets. These are then exported to the Netherlands, where they eventually end up in UK supermarkets. You can also find similar-looking fillets in another UK shop that are Indian eels that were imported from Germany. These fillets look very similar to the ones you see in the US, but they may have originated in the Philippines.According to the research paper, it is crucial that both the UK and EU adopt straightforward labelling requirements. These should include the scientific name for the species and be mandatory for all prepared and preserved fish products.Andrew Kerr, the Chairman of the Sustainable Eel Group, in Brussels, was not involved in this research. He noted that "Eel is essentially wild fish and finite. Control is therefore essential for a sustainable global trading system." It is in everyone's best interests to have accurate and traceable labelling.###
