DNA Testing For Seafood The US Food and Drug Administration
(USDA) recently officially approved DNA barcoding for seafood in
hopes of preventing the growing issue of the mislabeling, both
locally produced and imported, into the United States, Rod
McGuirk of the Associated Press (AP) reports. Regulators from
other countries are also considering adopting DNA barcoding as a
cost-effective and highly reliable tool for identifying organic
matter. The barcoding of DNA is essentially a standardized
fingerprint that can identify a species, much like a supermarket
scanner identifies a store product. So-called “fish fraud”, has
sparked Congressional hearings by exposing widespread
mislabeling of cheaper fish as expensive and desirable species
such as tuna or snapper. DNA barcoding also recently discovered
unlisted ingredients in herbal tea bags. Smithsonian Institution
paleontologist and executive secretary of the Washington-based
Consortium for the Barcode of Life, David Schindel, explains
that discussions with the re