Dispatches: Fish Unwrapped

14 January 2011

Channel 4's flagship current affairs strand Dispatches has investigated the fish sold on Britain's high street to find out where it is sourced, how it is processed and what is actually in it. Please see the press release below about the findings which include:

• Tesco labels mislead consumers about the source and species of a cod product, Channel 4's Dispatches reveals
• ‘Reformed scampi', which is commonly sold in supermarkets and pubs across the UK, may contain as little as 18% scampi.   
• Prawns destined for British plates being farmed in waters containing sewage and injected with a dirty bulking liquid to increase weight

 Channel 4 Press Release

 ***Strictly embargoed until 10.00 on Friday 14th January 2011***

 ***Any use of information in this release must credit "Channel 4's Dispatches***

 Tesco labels misled consumers about the source and species of a cod product, Channel 4's Dispatches reveals

Labelling on a cod product sold by Britain's biggest supermarket, Tesco, misled consumers on where fish was sourced and what species it was, Channel 4's Dispatches reveals.

As part of a wider investigation into the fish industry, Dispatches (tx Saturday 15th January 2011, 7.05pm on Channel 4) DNA tested cod products from Britain's three biggest supermarkets - Tesco, Sainsburys and Asda: 

• Almost a fifth (4 out of 21) of the cod results from Tesco were incorrectly labelled as Pacific cod.  The DNA results found that they were a different species of fish known as Atlantic cod.
• Similar DNA tests carried out on 15 cod products sold by Asda found that they matched what was written on the label.
• At Sainsburys 20 of the 21 results matched the labels. However, one fish bought from the counter of a store a south London was not cod, but haddock.

While many stocks of Atlantic cod have been overfished and are endangered, Pacific cod remains by and large plentiful.

All these four cases of mislabelling at Tesco related to one particular product which was bought at different times and at different branches as far apart as London and Perth.  Each was labelled in exactly the same way - "breaded cod fillets, caught in the Pacific Ocean / China" and "responsibly sourced". 

Marine biologist Melissa Pritchard, campaigns for sustainable fishing.  She says: "If the label is incorrect, in terms of where the fish was caught, then that cannot be argued as responsibly sourced...Tesco should remove the product immediately on this basis that they have labelled it incorrectly". 

In response to Dispatches findings, Tesco says: "It prides itself on the clarity and accuracy of the information it gives to customers. Unfortunately on this occasion we were provided with incorrect information by our supplier. This has now been rectified and we are sorry for the error."

They added that they are "absolutely confident" all their fish comes from responsibly managed stocks.

Dispatches also went undercover to investigate the prawn industry in Bangladesh, which supplies Britain with several thousand tonnes of prawns each year, and found a dangerously unregulated industry.

Undercover filming reveals serious hygiene issues and the use of a widely banned pesticide - Thiodan - to combat disease in prawn ponds.  Thiodan contains a toxic pollutant called Endosulfan, which is banned in the EU. Ingestion in large quantities is linked to numerous human health risks, such as paralysis and birth defects.

The report exposes how prawns are farmed in waters containing sewage, and injected with a dirty bulking liquid to increase weight - and profit.

Under the guidance of food technologist, presenter Alex Thomson examines the ingredients used to make ‘reformed scampi', which is commonly sold in supermarkets and pubs across the UK. 

He reveals the chemical additive manufacturers used to bind the fish and finds out just how little scampi there is in some reformed scampi products. In the case of Asda's ‘Scampi Mini-Bites', he discovers the product is only 18% scampi.   

Thomson also uncovers that packaged fish on sale in the chilled section of the supermarket may have been passed through several owners and frozen for nine months before it's defrosted and sold to consumers. 

Dispatches found consumers rarely noticed the small print selling "previously frozen" fish on the "fresh fish" counters at Asda and Tesco. 

Throughout January Channel 4 is broadcasting The Big Fish Fight season - championing sustainable seafood.  As part of this, Dispatches spent months investigating the fish sold on Britain's high street to find out where it is sourced, how it is processed and what is actually in it.

These findings will be broadcast in Dispatches: Fish Unwrapped on Saturday 15th January 2011, 7.05pm on Channel 4

Notes to Editors:

Channel 4's Dispatches Website:  http://www.channel4.com/dispatches

Channel 4's Dispatches on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/C4Dispatches

Channel 4's  The Big Fish Fight season:  http://www.channel4.com/4food/the-big-fish-fight