hark ProductsOften shark products are found in the most unexpected places. Shark meat is available in restaurants, cafés or supermarkets, even under diverse other names: smoked fish strips, dried cod/stockfish, rock salmon and as an ingredient of Fish & Chips or imitation crab meat.In the health sector, shark cartilage powder is marketed as a healthy food supplement, even though shark cartilage in this form is about as healthy as powdered pig's ears. In addition, shark liver oil (rich in Vitamin A) is frequently an ingredient of the popular cod-liver oil.Highly problematic is, however, the marketing of shark cartilage as an anticancer medicine. An article appearing in the December 2004 issue of "Cancer Research" confirmed that shark cartilage preparations have to date shown absolutely no effect in treating cancer.Shark products are found in dog food, fish meal and even in fertilizers. Shark skin is used to make leather products such as purses, shoes or watch straps.Looking at industrial usage, the squalene won from sharks is, for example, used as a basis for lubricants and cleaning agents, even though the equivalent squalene compound can be won from plants.On the other hand, shark collagen has less market chances in the gelatine sector (food/pharmaceuticals), even though Spain in particular is trying to penetrate the market with shark collagens and hydrolysates. Spain, as one of the world's largest shark fin producers, passed a law in 2002 prohibiting fishers from only landing fins. The law states that the entire shark's body must be landed, as a result the shark's body is now used to make cartilage powder.In the cosmetic sector, the collagen won from shark cartilage is used in antiwrinkle creams and other collagen preparations. Shark collagen is a) free of BSE and b) kosher, which makes it interesting for the Arabian and Israeli markets.