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A DNA test has confirmed that McDonald's Filet-O-Fish sandwich contains Alaska pollock. (Photo: Stock File/FIS)
McDonald's Filet-O-Fish contains fish. Surprised?
UNITED STATES
Thursday, August 27, 2009, 02:20 (GMT + 9)
Nova Southeastern professor Mahmood Shivji's DNA abilities have been put to the test, along with the contents of the McDonald's Filet-O-Fish sandwich.
Shivji and his team peeled off a tiny sliver of frozen fish and inserted it into a test tube. Through a series of chemical reactions, the DNA was extracted and subsequently amplified and sequenced, reports The Miami Herald.
As soon as the species DNA profile was identified, the scientists compared it against known species until they hit a match.
“Alaska pollock,” said Shivji, officially laying to rest any conspiracy theories that the fish patty isn't really fish at all.
“It's a fish,” Shivji said. “There's no traces of pigs or anything like that,” he concluded.
Pollock, a whitefish found in other fast-food restaurants as well as frozen TV dinners, is not exactly luxury seafood. It's a key ingredient in imitation crabmeat, and people in the UK sometimes feed pollock to their cats.
But with the wallet-friendly price of USD 2.79, most consumers would be relieved that the Filet-O-Fish actually contains fish.
The pollack's DNA footprint in the Filet-O-Fish is proof that McDonald's is at least honest about what it serves its customers, unlike many restaurants around the world. McDonald's corporate website identifies the other fish being used in their Filet-O-Fish as hoki.
Although consumers may still worry about their waistlines, both fish species are recognised as sustainable, well-managed fisheries. Filet-O-Fish lovers can therefore lay their guilty conscience to rest since they won't harm marine ecosystems.
Gorton's, the Nissui subsidiary who succeeded in inventing and commercialising the McDonald's Filet-O-Fish burger back in 1962, still supplies much of the fish used in the sandwich.
By Michel Loubet
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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