Your Sushi Isn’t What It Seems: New Study Exposes Rampant Salmon Fraud
Buyer beware: Your salmon might be lying to you. In a study published today, researchers have found evidence that these products are regularly mislabeled as wild salmon when they’re actually farmed salmon, which might be especially costly for customers at sushi restaurants.
Salmon and seafood mislabeling has been a known issue for a while — so much so that the state of Washington, where the salmon industry is especially important, passed a law in 2013 intended to reduce it and other kinds of fish fraud. Senior study researcher Tracie Delgado, a professor of biology at Seattle Pacific University, had read past studies on the topic and knew about the 2013 law, so she decided to have students in her Genetics lab course investigate for themselves whether things had gotten better since then.
“We had no idea what the results would be when we started this project and we were very surprised with the results,” Delgado told Gizmodo. “Despite legislation in Washington state that makes mislabeling of salmon illegal, salmon mislabeling fraud is still a problem in Seattle.”
Delgado and her students collected and analyzed the DNA of salmon samples from 67 grocery stores and 52 sushi restaurants in the Seattle area between fall 2022 and fall 2023. All told, 18% of these samples were mislabeled. The team’s findings were published Wednesday in the journal PLOS-One.
CDC Expands Avian Flu Testing for Farm Workers, Notes 7% Infection Rate in Those Exposed to Infected Cows
An eagerly anticipated serology study in farm workers exposed to H5N1-infected dairy cattle shows that 7% had antibodies suggesting prior infection, findings that today triggered enhanced testing, prophylactic (preventive) treatment, and use of personal protective equipment from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The number of H5 avian flu infections in farm works continues a slow but steady rise. California yesterday reported one more infection in a dairy worker, and Washington state reported two more in poultry cullers. The cases boost the CDC’s confirmed case total to 46.
The serology study included blood samples collected from June to August from 115 farm workers who had been exposed to sick cows in Colorado and Michigan. The samples were collected between 15 and 90 days after exposure. CDC scientists and their state health partners detailed the findings today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
At a media briefing today, Demetre Daskalakis, M.D., MPH, who directs the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said the serology testing involved a multistep protocol that was done to rule out cross-contamination from seasonal flu viruses. Of the 115 samples, eight were positive for H5 avian influenza antibodies. He added that the 7% infection level isn’t far from other recent seroprevalence studies for H5N1, such as in Egyptian market workers, which found a 4.6% level.
CDC Data Show U.S. Diabetes Rates Rise to Nearly 1 in 6 Adults
Nearly 16% of American adults — that’s close to one in six — now has diabetes, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Increasing age and widening waistlines greatly increase the odds of the disease, which happens when the body doesn’t use insulin properly, resulting in high blood sugar levels. If left unchecked, diabetes can be disabling and even life-threatening.
The vast majority (95%) of diabetes cases are type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body’s cells no longer respond to insulin as they should. Insulin regulates levels of sugar in the blood. Type 2 diabetes is strongly connected to excessive weight. The new data, collected from mid-2021 through mid-2023, found a big rise in diabetes rates since 1999–2000, when 9.7% of adult Americans had the disease.
There was a significant gender gap in diabetes rates in 2023: Nearly one in five men (18%) have the illness, compared to 12.9% of women, according to researchers at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Not surprisingly, diabetes rates rose with age: While just 3.6% of adults under 40 had the illness, rates rose to 12.1% for folks ages 40 to 59, and to 20.5% for people 60 and older.
Obesity also mattered: Nearly a quarter (24.2%) of obese adults now have diabetes, the NCHS report found. That’s compared to 12.3% of folks who are overweight but not obese, and 6.8% of normal/underweight adults.
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‘We’re Switching Over to Jars’: Homeowner Warns Against Black Plastic Containers to Store Food
If you’re worried about black plastic containers and the potential health risks they represent, you’re not alone. TikTok user Wendy’s (@wendymarie876) posted a viral clip showing cost effective food storage alternatives to these tupperwares. Her video on the subject accrued over 135,000 views and sparked a litany of varying responses. But are black plastics really that bad for you? And if you want to err on the side of caution, what would be a better choice?
Wendy begins her video showing off one of these black plastic food containers on camera. “So I just found out that this black plastic is made from recycled electronics,” she says. “And it’s one of the most toxic foods — one of the most toxic things you can put your food in.”
Her video then transitions to an image of glass ramekins. Wendy goes on to extol the benefits of using these food storage containers over the aforementioned plastic one.
There are reports from various media outlets that have opened about the potential harm caused by black plastics.
For instance, CNN Health writes that many of these products are “linked to banned toxic flame retardants.” The article cited a report from Megan Liu of the environmental advocacy group Toxic-Free Future. Furthermore, it says children’s toys, black takeout containers, kitchen utensils, and grocery meat and produce trays contain these chemicals.
The flame-inhibiting chemicals are polybrominated diphenyl ethers, otherwise known as PBDE. Another April 2024 report from the media outlet cited the hazards associated with PDBE’s. CNN wrote that individuals with higher levels of PDBE in their bloodstream were 300% more likely to die of cancer.
Food Companies Sell Products That Are Less Healthy in Poorer Countries, Says Report
European Supermarket Magazine reported:
The world’s biggest food and beverage companies on average sell products in low-income countries that are less healthy than what they sell in high-income countries, according to a new report. Products sold by companies including Nestlé, Pepsico and Unilever were assessed as part of a global index published by the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI), its first since 2021.
The non-profit group found that across 30 companies, the products sold in low-income countries scored lower on a star rating system developed in Australia and New Zealand than those sold in high-income countries. In the Health Star Rating system, products are ranked out of 5 on their healthiness, with 5 the best, and a score above 3.5 considered to be a healthier choice.
In low-income countries, the multinationals’ portfolios rated 1.8 on the system. In high-income countries, where more products were tested, they were 2.3. “It’s a very clear picture that what these companies are selling in the poorest countries in the world, where they are more and more active, are not their healthier products,” said Mark Wijne, research director at ATNI, in an interview with Reuters.
“It’s a wake-up call for governments in these countries to be vigilant,” he added. It is the first time the index has split the assessment into low and high-income countries.
