A team of researchers of the University of Oviedo, in collaboration with a group of Greek scientists belonging to the Aristotle University of Thessalonica, have analyzed the DNA of the hakes which are commercialized in Spain and Greece in order to determine the traceability of this kind of fish, and it has concluded that nearly the 40% of the labels that show the scientific name of the specie or its geographical origin don't do it properly.

Researchers have done two market studies, the first was carried out from 2004 to 2006 and the second one was done in 2010. In both occasions, ice-covered packets of fresh hake belonging to diverse brands and found in different hypermarkets were analyzed. The first study detected 31,5% of wrong labelling while in the second study the mislabelling index reached 38,9%.

As Eva García Vázquez, professor of Functional Biology in the University of Oviedo and co-author of this study, explains, this mistakes can be caused due to errors and confusions during the distribution process. However, the most interesting fact is that "African hakes, which are cheaper, appeared labelled as European or American, which are, generally speaking, more expensive, and this error did not occur in reverse", this suggests that irregularities are being committing when trading with these products.

García Vázquez was very proud because of the publishing of the research group's work and, about the social significance of the research, she hopes that more traceability tools in eating products and a higher routine control in markets could be applied so that these situations can be avoided.