George Yang, Author at Goody Feed

NUS is not just known for students who can’t keep their hands and phone in their own pocket. They’re also known for a student who Played Chinese Chess in front of a women in their library. But more than that, they’re known for their research, with their bioengineering research being one of their expertise. I mean, have you heard of how they develop a method to use light to control cells that have been modified to be light sensitive? Neither have I. But this latest research by NUS is very relevant to us. Pig DNA Found in Singapore Packaged Seafood Seafood is bae, and if they’re not expensive af, I’d have them every day. But what if I tell you that certain processed seafood might contain…pig DNA? Wait, nani?! Image: Tenor This is so serious, it could potentially lead to two scenarios: Sales of processed seafood drops drastically Discovery of a pig that lives in the sea Pig DNA Found in a Brand of Cuttlefish and Prawn Balls Sold in Singapore On 31 October 2019, NUS published an academic paper and it’s involves our favourite seafood. Because academic papers are for rich nerds with thick glasses (i.e. we understand no shit), here’s a very simplified summary of their findings. The researchers had bought 105 seafood products from six supermarkets and two seafood restaurants in Singapore. In one specific brand, which is unnamed, they found pig DNA in its cuttlefish and prawn balls. In layman’s term, it means there might be pig meat in these two products. The other explanation could be that the factory processing these food hadn’t cleaned their machines well enough, leaving resides of the previously processed food (i.e pig) on their production line. Either two explanations are inexcusable, in a multi-religious society such as Singapore. The researchers went on to say that it is a “serious problem given that many consumers avoid pork for religious, ethical or health reason.” Thankfully, those products found with pig DNA weren’t labelled as halal. Not sure why they’d not like to disclose the brand, though. That would have added more publicity and credibility to their study, though they might face legal actions from the brand lah. Needless to say, our favourite digital media TODAYonline has contacted them to find out more. I bet with all my assets that if the brand is disclosed, it’s going to be as big as the Ramesh case. The goody news is that they’ve only found pig DNA in that particular brand, so all other brands are safe. And the researchers have more to add in their papers. Serious Case of Misleading Labels in Singapore Processed Seafood When you buy atas processed seafood like prawn roe, you’d expect it to be 100% prawn roe, right? Not in Singapore. It turns out that mislabeling is common, as manufacturers mix in cheaper ingredients despite labelling it clearly as “prawn roe”. This practice, unfortunately, is very common in pet food. I guess we Singaporeans are pets. In fact, it’s so bad that in some cases, the label would clearly state Fish A, but if you look at the ingredients, it’s made of purely Fish B, which could be much cheaper. The reason why they can do? They’re both fishes mah. Or, in another example, a prawn+fish ball might just be mostly flour, some fish and a little prawn…powder. The researchers call it “creative labelling”. Yeah, so my life has been a lie so far. Image: giphy Why Can Like That? Well, for a start, it’s not illegal per se, but more of misleading marketing. That’s because in the Sale of Food Act in Singapore, the labels just need to be “sufficient to indicate the true nature of the food.” Want more details? Look at the ingredient list, which they cannot anyhowly write. The researchers suggest a change in the law that’ll be benchmarked against rules set by the European Union (EU), whereby the name of the product should be on the label. According to them, over in some EU countries, those rules have reduced the percentage of mislabeling from 20% to 8%. But of course, if that is implemented, we can expect certain companies to go bankrupt, seafood to become more expensive and restaurants to anyhowly increase their price—all just for better seafood. Quite a Catch-22, isn’t it?

George Yang

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