Restaurants Plan DNA-Certified Seafood Program

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday November 27, 2011 @11:37AM from the getting-what-you-pay-for dept.

Restaurants across the globe will soon use DNA technology to reassure customers that they are getting what they pay for. In recent years getting "counterfeit" seafood has become a big problem. In 2007 several people became seriously ill from eating illegally imported pufferfish that had been mislabeled as monkfish. From the article: "David Schindel, a Smithsonian Institution paleontologist and executive secretary of the Washington-based Consortium for the Barcode of Life, said he has started discussions with the restaurant industry and seafood suppliers about utilizing the technology as a means of certifying the authenticity of delicacies. 'When they sell something that's really expensive, they want the consumer to believe that they're getting what they're paying for,' Schindel told The Associated Press."

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Re:hmm by artor3 · 2011-11-27 13:52 · Score: 0, Flamebait

Says who?
Option 1) Ban the killing of endangered species. Some customers will still buy it on the black market.
Option 2) Legalize false advertisement. Customers can no longer trust any place of business, and quickly learn to demand to see the whole animal so they can be sure. Only poachers can provide this proof, so customers end up going to the black market, same as before, only now you've destroyed the public trust as well.
In what world is option 2 superior?