15 - “Fishy” food laws

Summary

INTRODUCTION

“Fishy” is defined in dictionaries as: “of, like or full of fish; dubious, open to suspicion and unsafe.” The word “fishy” in the title of this chapter was chosen deliberately to convey two important elements of food laws and regulations. The first part of the chapter deals with some current regulatory issues in the international trading of fish and fishery products. The latter part of the chapter deals with some food regulations that come, in the opinion of this author, under the slang usage of the word “fishy.” Some of these regulations cover fish oils and omega-3 fatty acids.

Food laws and regulations at the national and international levels have five distinct but interrelated objectives:

• protect public health

• inform the consumer

• ensure fair trade practices

• protect against fraud

• protect the environment.

The discussion here deals mainly with the first three objectives listed. It must be emphasized that these topics are not independent entities – they are closely interrelated. For example, food poisoning from unsafe fish or fishery products results in negative attitudes among some consumers and a resultant reduction in fish trade. Likewise, when a national regulatory agency rejects local or imported fish as unsafe for human consumption, it gives needed protection to consumers. These rejections also have an impact on the fish trade, and perhaps on environmental issues, as well as protecting the consumer from the fraudulent sale of fish that could be unsafe, misbranded, or mislabeled or any combination of these factors (see Tables 15.1–15.3).