Consumer advocates concerned over salmon labelling

Beijing: Ten days after China’s fish association introduced new standards that allow rainbow trout to be labelled as salmon – sparking nationwide criticism – the Shanghai Consumer Council held an open debate in which industry leaders and businesses were urged to respect consumers’ right to know “about the products they consume”.

Lawyers and aquaculture academics joined the two-hour debate on Tuesday with representatives from the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance, the main body that drafted and issued the new guidelines.

“The intent of this debate is not to rewrite or revise the new guidelines, as we don’t have that role. But as a spokesman for consumers, we believe an open platform, including different viewpoints and interests for discussion, is the first step in bringing changes,” said Tang Jiansheng, secretary-general of the council.

“From the heated discussion we are confident that improvements will emerge.”

Chen Lichun, deputy secretarygeneral of the aquatic alliance, said at the meeting that the new standards will be enacted as planned.

“The new standards are the result of thoughtful and solid study. The goal in introducing them is to regulate the market and guarantee food safety,” Chen said.

The rules came out three months after China Central Television featured a massive freshwater fishery in Qinghai province that claimed to supply one-third of China’s “salmon”.

The show prompted discussion about whether Qinghai – an inland province – should sell a large number of trout labelled as salmon.

The alliance has previously argued that in Chinese the word salmon could refer to both Atlantic salmon and trout.

Atlantic salmon has a wholesale price more than twice that of trout, according to open listings on Shanghai’s Fisheries Commerce Association. — China Daily/Asia News Network