Researchers recently used DNA barcoding to examine the occurrence of sharks in various pet food products bought in Singapore which revealed a substantial prevalence of ingredient mislabeling.
As indicated in a Phys.org report, they proposed the implementation of global standards for labels of pet food to prevent overexploitation of endangered sharks.
Unknowingly, pet owners may be feeding their pets with meat coming from endangered shark species. The researchers said, if one ever reads the list of ingredients on his pet's favorite food, he may encounter ambiguous or unclear terms such as "fish," "ocean fish," or "whitebait."
The research team from Yale-NUS College in Singapore examined pet food products bought within Singapore and found that the said terms may refer to "endangered shark meat."
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Using DNA barcoding, researchers revealed some pet food products sold in Singapore have meat from endangered shark species.
Drop in Shark Population
Sharks are fundamental for healthy marine ecosystems' functioning. As the so-called "apex predators," they are at the top of the oceanic food chain.
Shifting the distribution of their prey which changes their feeding tactic of other species, they keep a balance of the food chain. The loss of sharks has resulted in a drop in seagrass beds and coral reefs.
Furthermore, the growing shark fin and meta meat trade have put the shark population at risk. The study published in Frontiers in Marine Science now suggests that roughly 100m sharks may be killed every year.
New Research: DNA Barcoding Identifies Endangered Sharks in Pet Food Sold in Singapore: Shark populations have declined by more than 70% over the past 50 years. These declines have largely been attributed to increases in fishing efforts.… https://t.co/apbaDOQssw #MarineScience
— Frontiers - Marine Science (@FrontMarineSci) March 4, 2022
Overfishing is the largest threat to sharks all over the world and a lack of effective management and monitoring of fishing practices contributes to the burden of vulnerable shark species.
According to Yale-NUS College's Dr. Ben Wainwright and Ian French, shark populations are overfished all over the world, with drops of more than 70 percent in the last five decades documented. This they added, is "indicative of the current lack of regard in which we hold our oceans.
Shark Meat in Pet Food and Cosmetics
As specified in a similar WiSci.org report, a silent contributor to the drop in populations of sharks is the use of shark products like pet food and even cosmetics.
For instance, a lot of people may not be aware that certain beauty and body care products may use shark-derived squalene, in contrast to plant-derived squalene.
This new study has also found shark meat in pet food products. A 2019 study showed the presence of sharks in more than 70 pet food samples collected within the United States.
The authors explained, given the findings of previous research carried out in the US, they wanted to find out if endangered sharks are sold in Asian pet food, as well.
DNA Barcoding
The study investigators used DNA barcoding to examine if there was shark DNA in 45 different food products from 16 different products on sale in Singapore
Wainwright and French said none of the products bought listed shark as an ingredient, using just "generic catch-all terms" like "fish, ocean fish, whitebait or white fish" for the description of their contents.
Out of the 144 samples taken, 31 percent were found to have shark DNA. The most identified sharks were the Prionace glauca or blue shark, followed by Carcharhinus falciformis or silky shark, and the Triaenodon obesus or the whitetip reef shark.
Related report about the DNA barcoding done to examine pet food is shown on Nonstop News's YouTube video below:
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