A study released this month has found that about 20 percent of seafood is not labeled correctly.

Researchers did DNA testing on 190 pieces of seafood purchased at restaurants and retail stores in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The results, which were published in Consumer Reports, found that more than one-fifth of the seafood was not labeled correctly.

But J. Michael Floyd, executive director of food services at the University, said students don’t have to worry about the identity of the fish they’re eating at the dining halls.

He said the University purchases about $400,000 worth of frozen fish each year from several different companies within the U.S., and he’s confident in the quality of each one.

“With mainline suppliers, you would not find this to be an issue,” he said.

The study stated that it was impossible to know in what period of the fish processing the mislabeling occurred – whether it was on the boat, by merchants who sell the fish to stores or restaurants or by stores or restaurants themselves. If suppliers or merchants mislabel fish, it’s often impossible for retail stores or restaurants to notice the mistake because the fish are often sent as filets without any identifying characteristics.

Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University, said he thinks much of the mislabeling is done intentionally by merchants, especially in countries outside the U.S.

“They’re taking a lower-quality fish and labeling it a higher quality fish,” he said. “Bottom line is, it’s economic.”

Robert Bringolf, assistant professor of fish biology and ecotoxicology, agreed with Doyle. He said most likely the fish are not being misidentified at sea, at least not in the U.S. Most commercial fishing boats in the U.S. have fishery observers from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration on board to make sure the labeling is done correctly. It’s the merchants who probably mislabel the fish, either intentionally or accidentally.

“You’re really at the mercy of what’s on the label,” Bringolf said. “It’s really difficult at the consumer level to be able to make a call about a species.”

Bringolf said the mislabeling shouldn’t cause many health problems, especially if the labeling is done intentionally. Small fishusually retain less mercury than large fish, and if these fish are being mislabeled intentionally, they will probably be mislabeled as larger, more expensive fish. In this case, the consumer will actually get a fish with fewer contaminants.

Both Bringolf and Doyle said there’s not a lot consumers can do to avoid buying fish that has been mislabeled besides checking the country of origin on the label.

“If they mislabeled it in the country of origin, it’s going to come through as whatever it is,” Doyle said. “If you buy U.S.-grownfish, it’s not as likely to be misrepresented.”

The report also stated in 2010 Americans spent $5 billion more on seafood than in 2009. Bringolf said this number might not be as startling as it looks ecologically because more than half of seafood is now raised in aquaculture instead of harvested from the oceans.

Bringolf suggested consumers check the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch website to learn about what fish are most ecologically responsible to eat, and also which species should be purchased farm-raised or wild-caught.

He said the environmental effects of where the fish comes from can differ from species to species; salmon, for instance, should be most often be purchased wild-caught, because salmon farms can cause disease transmission and gene mixing in wild fish populations.

This is not the first time this type of study has been done – a New York Times article from May 2011 stated that 20 – 25 percent of seafood is regularly mislabeled, according to researchers in North America and Europe. In October, the Boston Globe also reported on the lack of regulations in the seafood industry that has led to fraudulent labeling and substitution.

In November, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would begin its own round of seafood DNA tests in order to better crack down on the mislabeling problem.