Safety assessment and authentication of seafood through DNA barcoding

Consumers of today have more apprehension on food safety ever before and high value markets such as EU and USA market are place much attention on it. Quality of food is a very important aspect of human life and people become more and more anxious about nutrition, food safety and environmental issues that determine their acceptance of food products. Food traceability is a central issue for the identification of improper labeling of processed food and feed and there are rules aimed to protect consumers and producers against fraudulent but the tools available are not always appropriate. Recently, DNA barcoding has gained support as a rapid, cost-effective and broadly applicable molecular diagnostic technique for seafood authentication. DNA barcoding methodologies are progressively more applied not only for scientific purposes but also for diverse real-life uses. The present chapter brings out a comprehensive review on the seafood authentication and fraud. Developing country markets are placing poor attention on food safety and sanitation measures and rising levels of market information, education and awareness programmes will help to minimize the gap.