FISH-FIT: A web-based tool to improve European seafood authenticity control

Abstract

Seafood is one of foods most prone to substitution and fraud potentially leading to negative implications on consumer trust and health. Additionally, seafood adulteration might be accompanied by overfishing of particular species. Therefore, the European Union issued several regulations on the declaration of seafood and its control. In support of the implementation of these regulations as well as research on seafood authenticity, the user-friendly database called FISH-FIT has been established. FISH-FIT provides users with valid DNA sequences of authentic tissue samples, a sequence alignment tool and a collection of methods relevant to this field. Furthermore, authentic tissue materials are physically stored for all entries in the database and aliquots can be requested directly via the website. The FISH-FIT resource allows users to compare their samples with verified materials and aids in the development of new DNA-based methods for authentication. Overall, FISH-FIT contributes to the harmonisation of seafood authentication methods in Europe in the long term.