Species Identification and Monitoring of Labeling Compliance for Commercial Pufferfish Products Sold in Korean On-line Markets
2023
Lee, J.Y. | Kim, K.H. | Kang, T.S.
In this study, based on an analysis of two DNA barcode markers (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and cytochrome b genes), we performed species identification and monitored labeling compliance for 50 commercial pufferfish products sold in on-line markets in Korea. Using these barcode sequences as a query for species identifica tion and phylogenetic analysis, we screened the GenBank database. A total of seven pufferfish species (Takifugu chin ensis, T. pseudommus, T. xanthopterus, T. alboplumbeus, T. porphyreus, T. vermicularis, and Lagocephalus cheesemanii) were identified and we detected 35 products (70%) that were non-compliant with the corresponding label information. Moreover, the labels on 12 commercial products contained only the general common name (i.e., pufferfish), although not the scientific or Korean names for the 21 edible pufferfish species. Furthermore, the proportion of mislabeled highly processed products (n = 9, 81.8%) was higher than that of simply processed products (n = 26, 66.7%). With respect to the country of origin, the percentage of mislabeled Chinese products (n = 8, 80%) was higher than that of Korean products (n = 26, 66.7%). In addition, the market and dialect names of different pufferfish species were labeled only as Jolbok or Milbok, whereas two non-edible pufferfish species (T. vermicularis and T. pseudommus) were used in six commercial pufferfish products described as JolboK and Gumbok on their labels, which could be attributable to the complex classification system used for pufferfish. These monitoring results highlight the necessity to develop genetic methods that can be used to identify the 21 edible pufferfish species, as well as the need for regulatory monitoring of commercial pufferfish products.
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