Traces of endangered shark species found in cat and dog food: Study
Of the 144 samples examined, 45 -- about one third -- contained elements of shark DNA. The most identified species found in the cat and dog food were blue, silky and whitetip reef sharks.
Before you buy any type of food, it doesn't hurt to take a look at the ingredients.
For example, the last things you would probably expect to see listed are sharks, but they have been discovered in some cat and dog food in Singapore, according to a new study. It turns out that multiple brands contained elements of several endangered shark species, but because they were listed under vague ingredients such as ocean fish, customers weren't aware when buying them.
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Of 144 samples examined, 45 -- about one third -- contained elements of shark DNA. The most identified species found in the food were blue, silky and whitetip reef sharks. Silky and whitetip reef sharks are listed as vulnerable on International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
Scientists uncovered the issue using DNA barcoding, analyzing 45 pet food products from 16 brands in Singapore. The majority of the merchandise was labelled with generic words such as fish, ocean fish, white bait or white fish to chronicle the list of contents found in the food. Some of the brands had named tuna or salmon as ingredients while others kept fish off the list of contents.
Silky shark. (Alex Chernikh/Wikipedia. CC BY 2.5)
"The use of generic catch-all terms, such as 'fish,' 'ocean fish' and 'white fish' are becoming increasingly common. These all-encompassing terms eliminate the consumer’s ability to make an informed decision about which products they wish to purchase and use," said the study's authors, Ben Wainwright and Ian French, from Yale-NUS College in Singapore.
DNA of the sicklefin weasel shark, Caribbean sharpnose shark and the sand tiger shark, all considered to be vulnerable species, were also identified in products that were analyzed.
SHARK POPULATIONS SEE DRASTIC DROP
According to the study, shark populations have declined by more than 70 per cent over the past 50 years. It noted that the mislabelling of seafood products, whether intentional or by mistake, has been a factor in the plummet of shark populations.
"The practice of mislabelling generally involves the substitution of a low-value product for one of a higher value to increase the economic gain," the authors said.
Hammerhead shark. (Wikipedia. CC BY 3.0)
Although they collected numerous samples from all of the obtained products, Wainwright and French acknowledged they may not have uncovered the "full diversity" of sharks from them.
"We do not know whether the high incidence of sharks in pet food is an attempt to avoid the wastefulness of the shark fin trade where high-valued fins are retained and the low-valued carcasses are discarded. If this is the case, that may be commendable," said Wainwright and French. "However, we are skeptical that this is the sole reason that sharks end up in pet food."
The authors also mentioned the presence of squalene, verified by DNA barcoding, in some pet food products and cosmetics come from sharks, including the hammerhead.
Much of the decline of sharks, though, has been blamed on a rise in fishing. While there has been a greater public awareness of sharks, the threats they face and conservation efforts, three-quarters of all oceanic species are currently considered at risk of extinction.
"We suggest that better labelling with globally implemented standards would help to avoid the overexploitation of endangered species such as sharks. Doing so would also allow pet owners to have greater control over what they feed their pets," said Wainwright and French.
SHARKS ALSO FOUND IN PET FOOD IN THE U.S.
It isn't just Singapore where traces of sharks have been found in pet food. A 2019 study reviewing the fixings of pet food in the U.S. showed similar results of frequent shark traces. The analysis found that the shortfin mako was the most common species detected in samples in the U.S. Meanwhile, there were no traces of this particular shark in the Singapore examination.
Findings from the Singapore study were posted on March 4 in Frontiers in Marine Science.
Thumbnail courtesy of Alex Chernikh/Wikipedia. CC BY 2.5.
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