'Fish' Pet Food Could Actually Contain Endangered Shark, Alarming DNA Study Finds

A recent analysis of commercially produced pet foods has found that even if the ingredients on the label don't explicitly include shark, your pet's dinner may contain it.

Researchers wondered if genetic testing could reveal information about ocean-sourced ingredients in pet foods.

They collected and analyzed samples from 45 pet food products. The researchers found that 31 percent of the samples had shark DNA.

The silky shark and the whitetip reef shark are two sharks that are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

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The scientists compared the samples with a database of known species' bar codes.

The researchers used a technique known as mini-barcoding, which can amplify even small genomic sequences in degraded samples, because canned pet foods are highly processed.

The blue sharks were the most common in the samples, appearing seven times.

The scientists said in the study that blue sharks are frequently caught as bycatch in commercial fishing and that their occurrence is high in the shark fin trade in Southeast Asia. Blue sharks end up in pet food because of these two factors.

Spottail sharks, sliteye sharks, sand tiger sharks, and whitetip reef sharks were all identified by the researchers.

They noted that 16 of the samples contained shark DNA that could only be identified by their species: Carcharhinus.

While it isn't illegal for pet food companies to not mention shark meat in their products, the vagueness of terminology like "ocean fish" prevents pet owners from making informed and environmentally conscious decisions.

Many pet owners and lovers would be alarmed to find out that they are likely contributing to the unsustainable fishing practices that have caused massive declines in global shark populations over the past 50 years.

The findings were published in the journal.

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The article was published by Live Science. The original article can be found here.