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The aim of this literature review of 51 scientific papers was to answer the question - "What is the mislabelling rate in seafood products sold on the Italian market?“. Samples were considered mislabelled when the species found by DNA analysis did not correspond with the description on the label. The most sampled seafood taxa were fish (83.8%): mackerels, cods, herrings, flatfishes and jacks were the most represented species. Unprocessed fillet/slice was the most analysed retail form (61.4%), and samples were collected at retail premises (76.5%) in 10 Italian regions. The overall weighted mislabelling rate was 28.4%, with the highest levels of mislabelling reported in samples of jellyfishes, European perch, European grouper, Atlantic mackerel and samples labelled as “spinarolo”, “baccalà” or “palombo”. There were also geographical differences and type of retail channel.

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Crustaceans are high value foods with a high incidence of species substitution. German researchers have developed a multiplex RT-PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction) assay to identify four important commercial crustaceans - giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), Argentine red shrimp (Pleoticus muelleri), and Dublin Bay prawn or scampi (Nephrops norvegicus). The specificity of the assay was confirmed by testing more than 30 crustacean species, and the performance of the method was evaluated with varyingly processed crustaceans, as well as with commonly used spices and herbs. 

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Prawns and shrimps are high value seafood vulnerable to species substitution. Indian reseachers have developed uniplex PCR assays using species specific primers based on the mitochondrial 16S RNA and Internal Transcriber Spacer (ITS1) genes for 7 commercially important prawns and shrimps (Penaeus vannamei, Fenneopenaeus indicus, Penaeus monodon, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, Metapenaeus affinis, Heterocarpus gibbosus,and Penaeus semisulcatus). The specificity of the primers was confirmed using targeted prawn and shrimp species and untargeted fish species.  The developed assays were tested using 68 purchased prawn and shrimp products, and found that 16% of the samples were mislabelled.

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