Fish Speciation Testing

The fish labelling regulations of 2003 (amended in 2010) stipulate that fishery products must identify which species of fish is contained within the product, ensuring that the commercial designation of fish species identified correctly describes the species of fish present.

This regulation has brought about a requirement for reliable fish species testing of such products to ensure regulatory compliance and guard against the fraudulent or accidental inclusion of mislabelled species in fishery products.

Reliable identification of fish species

Eurofins companies has a highly specific and sensitive DNA method for fish analysis. PCR-RFLP method exploits minor differences in DNA sequence between different fish species. A small piece of fish DNA is copied many times using PCR. These are then compared with a large authenticated database of fish species using matcher software to ensure accurate fish species identification.

In comparison, the standard methods for the identification of fish species in foods are based on either morphology, which is applicable for whole fish only and requires considerable expertise or isoelectric focusing (IEF), which distinguishes between fish on the basis of protein polymorphisms. IEF takes longer to perform, is limited to identification of raw and lightly processed samples and can be difficult to interpret compared with DNA methods.

Fish Speciation Testing

The advantages of the Eurofins companies Fish speciation analysis are:

highly specific and sensitive test
reliable identification of many fish species, including all major commercial species.

Contact our sales team on 01431 1306 or make an enquiry.