Rostock (dpa/mv) – The State Office for Agriculture, Food Safety and Fisheries (LALLF) examined shrimp, zander and cod as part of an international project. 8 of 37 samples taken from the retail trade were objectionable, as the authority announced in Rostock on Wednesday. At 21.6 percent, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is above the national average of 15 percent. The samples examined were mainly frozen imported goods.
The investigations were part of the international “OPSON XI” project 2021/2022. 443 samples were analyzed nationwide. According to the information, the focus was on adulteration through the addition of foreign water that was not specified and the so-called species substitution, in which expensive fish species are replaced by cheaper ones.
German authorities from 12 federal states took part in the action coordinated by Europol and Interpol. LALLF director Stephan Goltermann gave the all-clear with regard to the samples examined for the animal species in MV: “It was always the fish in the packaging that was stated on it. The eight complaints related to misleading information, with the exception of one case with the shrimp have been proven.”
According to the authorities in Germany, around 89 percent of the fish, crustaceans and molluscs consumed are imported goods. With the worldwide Operation OPSON, Europol and Interpol have been taking coordinated action against food fraud since 2011.
