Ethnic seafood products sold on the Italian market: labelling assessment and biological, chemical and physical risk characterization

Ethnic foods are nowadays increasingly consumed by Western citizens. However, deficiencies in traceability and poor hygiene conditions have been often reported for ethnic foods. In this study, seafood products (fish, crustaceans and seaweeds) purchased in Southern Italy from ethnic food stores were analysed to assess their labelling compliance with EU law (Regulation EU No 1169/2011 and Regulation EU No 1379/2013) and the presence of microbiological, chemical and physical hazards. Over 96% of the collected products were found as non-compliant with EU law on labelling. Regarding biological contamination, the quantification of enterococci (22.1% of the samples), moulds -including the potential aflatoxigenic Aspergillus flavus- (36.4% of samples) and the detection of Vibrio alginolyticus (7.8% of samples) should be emphasized. The presence of foreign bodies (physical contamination) in 18.2% of the samples highlighted the lack of targeted control systems. Overall, the major concerns arose from the chemical contamination related to the presence of variable percentages of metals derived from anthropogenic activities. This hazard was especially found in seaweeds products, which should be therefore better monitored throughout the food chain in order to protect public health. Outcomes from this study integrates the scarce data present in the literature and provide an overview of the major risks related to the consumption of ethnic seafood sold within EU market.