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Gadoid fish and hake are the species of fishes most frequently imported to the Czech Republic. The purpose of this paper, cross-country hygiene study, is to determine sea fish fraud labelling on the Czech market and catering.

In total, 57 samples of commercial Gadoid fish product from different manufacturers, distributors and catering facilities were gathered. Gadidae family, hake (Merluccius spp. Raf.), saithe (Pollachius virens L.), Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.), Alaska pollock (Theragra chalcogramma Pall.), were detected in fish meat, fish products and fish meals by the qualitative PCR method.

In total, 47 samples were labelled as a Gadoid fish, which were confirmed in 43 cases. Six samples were labelled as a hake and were confirmed in five samples. Four samples were labelled as a fish fillets. Three samples of fish fillets were identified as a hake and one sample was detected as a mixture of Alaska pollock and Atlantic cod.

In recent years, due to increasing interest from consumers in the sea fish meat market, accurate Identification of fish species has become more important. The mislabelling of sea fish species, whether intentional or not, was on observed on the Czech market and in catering facilities. Economic factors influence the accuracy of labelling of fish meat, which is a concern as mislabelling can threaten public health.

The study was concentrated on the monitoring of hygiene and quality of food products and catering facilities. This study provides greater awareness of the condition and quality of food on the market and to the extent of fraudulent practices amongst dealers and producers.

Presents the compositional and spoilage changes in fish ‐ useful for determining the freshness for eating. Chemical and microbiological methods are focused on. Breakdowns in chemical components lead to detectable changes ‐ odour, flavour and texture. Changes to the fats, protein, nucleotides, non‐protein nitrogen compounds and enzymes are examined. These means are more valid when dealing with preserved and frozen fish and can give accurate assessment as to fish quality.

Consumption of game meat is growing when compared to other meats. It is susceptible to adulteration because of its cost and availability. Spectroscopy may lead to rapid methodologies for detecting adulteration. The purpose of this study is to detect the adulteration of wild fallow deer (Dama dama) meat with domestic goat (G) (Capra aegagrus hircus) meat, for samples stored for different periods of time using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy coupled with chemometric.

Meat was cut and mixed in different percentages, transformed into mini-burgers and stored at 3°C from 12 to 432 h and periodically examined for FTIR, pH and microbial analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were applied to detect adulteration.

The PCA model, applied to the spectral region from 1,138 to 1,180, 1,314 to 1,477, 1,535 to 1,556 and from 1,728 to 1,759 cm⁻¹, describes the adulteration using four principal components which explained 95 per cent of variance. For the levels of Adulteration A1 (pure meat), A2 (25 and 50 %w/wG) and A3 (75 and 100 %w/wG) for an external set of samples, the correlation coefficients for prediction were 0.979, 0.941 and 0.971, and the room mean square error were 8.58, 12.46 and 9.47 per cent, respectively.

The PLS-DA model predicted the adulteration for an external set of samples with high accuracy. The proposed method has the advantage of allowing rapid results, despite the storage time of the adulterated meat. It was shown that FTIR combined with chemometrics can be used to establish a methodology for the identification of adulteration of game meat, not only for fresh meat but also for meat stored for different periods of time.

This study aims to gain insights into the relevance and market potential of fish origin (farmed or wild) among consumers in Belgium, Norway and Spain.

Cross‐sectional data were collected through a consumer survey (n=1,319), conducted in November‐December 2007 in three European countries: Belgium, Norway and Spain. The study describes personal and food characteristics, as well as consumer attitudes and knowledge related to fish origin. Further, these characteristics were analysed in terms of their impact on the choice of either farmed or wild fish, using bivariate analyses.

In general, European consumers have little knowledge or awareness regarding the origin of fish. This results in uncertainty in consumers' perception of farmed fish in particular. The study is in line with previous ones suggesting that perceptions of aquaculture and farmed fish are based more on emotions than on rational considerations. Still, the perception of farmed fish is positive in general. Consumers do not prioritise fish origin as an information cue, although variation is present between different consumer groups. Consumers of predominantly farmed versus wild fish did not have a very distinct profile, which corroborates with the only modest significance of fish origin as a product‐specific information cue during the fish purchase and consumption decision process.

The strength of the paper pertains to its international scope, and to the diversity of countries selected in terms of relevant variables. Also, the growing relevance of aquaculture as a fish production method and farmed fish as a food product makes results and findings of the study topical and of practical relevance.