MEXICO CITY
Researchers from the Faculty of Higher Studies (FES) Cuautitlán de la ONE; discovered dolphin meat in tuna cans of commercial brands analyzed in the laboratory.
The study headed by Dr. José Francisco Montiel Sosa in collaboration with Karla Vanessa Hernández Herbert, a Food Engineering student, had the objective of determining whether the tuna sold in oil and water contained some species other than the one reported.
At the conclusion of the DNA extraction and purification and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) analyzes, they determined that dolphin meat was found in three of the 15 tuna samples they verified.
This finding evidences a serious food fraud, because in addition to the fact that dolphin meat is a component that has not been declared on the label, it puts a protected and endangered species at risk.
Although the ingestion of dolphin does not represent a health risk, the fraudulent addition of substances that are not authentic and deceiving the consumer are unacceptable ”, warned Karla Vanessa Hernández Herbert.
Dolphin Safe
The FES Cuautitlán highlighted that this work is relevant because, in addition to exposing a food fraud, it warns about the risk that a protected species runs.
According to the Official Mexican Standard 059, the dolphin is a species “Subject to Special Protection” (Pr), and it must be remembered that the embargo against Mexican tuna by the United States has severely impacted the national industry since the years 90, after the accusations of causing the massive death of dolphins in the capture of the tuna.
Despite the arduous struggle of the Government of Mexico against trade restrictions, at the end of 2018, the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO), issued a final final ruling in which it concluded that the labeling rules in the cans of “Dolphin Safe” tuna from the US – denied to the Mexican product – is not discriminatory.
According to the WTO, frequently in the eastern waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean shoals of yellowfin tuna move below groups of dolphins that swim on the sea surface, causing some dolphins to be trapped during the capture of tuna in the nets and die drowned.
Data from the National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission (Conapesca) establish that Mexico is one of the 80 countries in the world that has a fishing sector dedicated to tuna, which generates 12 thousand direct jobs and approximately 60 thousand indirect ones.
This line of investigation reflects the importance of ending food fraud, as it is a problem that not only hurts the consumer, but also affects honest producers. In this way, it is possible to protect endangered species of vital importance to the ecosystem, “concluded the Cuautitlán School of Higher Studies at UNAM.
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