Most shark fin dishes faked

Almost all of the shark fin, a high-priced delicacy, sold in restaurants and shops in Zhejiang Province is fake but many diners would find it impossible to tell the difference, according to local officials.

Some 79 of 82 shark fin samples sent to a lab for DNA testing under the State Forestry Bureau were proved to be artificial, the Zhejiang Administration for Industry and Commerce announced over the weekend.

The results came as officials in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, and Beijing scramble to test shark fin in their local markets.

Although environmentalists and high-profile celebrities like basketball hero Yao Ming condemn the practice of collecting shark fins as cruel and environmentally destructive, residents in Beijing spend some 100 million yuan ($16 million) a day on dishes prepared with it, the Xinhua News Agency reported earlier this month.

The Zhejiang administration saidon its website that fake fins are made of chemicals including gelatin and sodium alginate, and are usually sold to restaurants at a price of tens of yuan per 500 grams.

They will then be processed into shark fin soup by restaurants and served to customers for up to 1,000 yuan for each bowl.

An official from the Zhejiang provincial consumer protection committee that also joined the investigation told the Global Times that it is difficult for customers to tell real fins from forged ones by observing or tasting them.

"Most consumers cannot tell the differences. They just want to have this luxurious experience of gulping shark fins," the official said.

Most fake fins are purchased from distributors based in neighboring Fujian Province, who sourced them from seafood markets in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.

Ma Lin, a public relations officer with the Hangzhou-based Dragon Hotel in Zhejiang, told the Global Times that the hotel used to import fins to ensure the quality but stopped serving the cuisine in 2011.

Chen Juanjuan, assistant secretary-general of the Shanghai Cuisine Association, told the Global Times that currently no regulation bans restaurants from serving artificial shark fins in the country.

"As long as food processors use edible gelatin to make artificial fins, no harm will be done to health. However, we have suggested restaurants make clear to customers when they serve artificial fins. There is a big price gap between them," Chen added.

According to the Zhejiang authorities, one third of real shark fins they sent to a provincial testing center were found to contain excessive levels of cadmium, which can cause problems in the reproductive system and kidneys.

In Guangzhou, some 560 kilograms of problematic fins have been confiscated since it started an inspection into the local market in December last year.

Authorities in Beijing also launched an investigation on January 9 into fake shark fins after media reports. No results had been announced yet.