Sainsbury's Taste the Difference salmon. (Photo: StockFile)

Sainsbury's steps on toes with mislabelled salmon

Supermarket chain Sainsbury's admitted to an error made in the labelling of some of the Scottish salmon products sold in its stores after the Salmon and Trout Association (S&TA) claimed that the salmon sold in January and April whose packaging read it was sourced from sea water farms from around Skye, Lewis and Uist, had actually bee farmed in Loch Fyne on the Argyll mainland.

The S&TA reacted by complaining to the Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards, and accusing other retailers of being "vague and inadequate" with their details about farmed salmon. That is, the S&TA believes the information on the packaging had misled customers by providing an incorrect description of the place where the fish was raised and the aquaculture company that was involved.

The description said the fish in question were "reared in sheltered, fast-flowing seawater locations around the Isles of Skye, Lewis and Uist," as opposed to hundreds of miles away. What’s more, the source is really a sea loch more than 200 mi from Skye, in Argyll, which the S&TA says is polluted with levels of sea-lice, chemicals, faeces and diseases in excess of industry thresholds, Herald Scotland reports.

As well, the fish farming company’s name is not the right one: although Sainsbury's website says that it sources its salmon from aquaculture giant Marine Harvest, in truth the farms listed are owned and operated by The Scottish Salmon Company, the S&TA stated.

"Quite apart from issues of identifying exactly where its farmed salmon comes from, the S&TA believes Sainsbury's must substantiate its 'responsible sourcing' assertions with hard facts about named farms, and not just general assurances,” Guy Linley-Adams, solicitor to the S&TA aquaculture campaign, said. "Without this, discerning consumers may not have confidence in what they are being asked to buy."

Sainsbury's insisted that the fish involved in the packaging error had met its standards nonetheless, and highlighted that it was "very proud" of its record on responsible sourcing of fish. The grocer is the country's largest retailer of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Freedom Food Salmon, BBC reports.

"Unfortunately, there has been an error in the information on the packaging of some our Taste the Difference salmon products in recent months,” a spokesperson said. "We are now resolving this and sincerely apologise to customers, who can be reassured that there has been no impact on our industry-leading sourcing standards."

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

Address:	Stamford House, Stamford Street
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Country:	United Kingdom
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