End The Hidden Slaughter Of Sharks For School Lunches
Final signature count: 11,949
11,949 signatures toward our 30,000 goal
Sponsor: Free The Ocean
Brazil’s children are unknowingly eating toxic meat from endangered sharks — a threat to their health and a crisis for our oceans that demands immediate action to protect both people and marine life.
Across Brazil, children are being served shark meat under the harmless-sounding name cação. This vague label hides the fact that the meat can come from any shark or ray — including endangered species1. For many families, this means their children are unknowingly eating animals already on the brink of extinction.
In the National School Feeding Program, parents were kept in the dark about this practice1. Cação was promoted as a cheap, boneless protein for large-scale catering, making it an easy sell to institutions. But what was left unsaid is that it could be toxic and ecologically devastating.
A Health Threat for the Most Vulnerable
Shark meat carries dangerous levels of mercury, arsenic, and lead due to biomagnification in the marine food chain3. These heavy metals can cause neurological damage, kidney problems, developmental delays, and cognitive decline. The risks are especially severe for children, pregnant women, and the elderly3.
Without clear labeling, families cannot protect themselves. Children — whose developing brains and bodies are more susceptible to toxins — are being exposed without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
Driving Endangered Sharks Toward Extinction
The widespread use of cação in Brazil fuels demand for sharks at a time when global populations are collapsing. At least 83% of shark and ray species sold in Brazil are threatened with extinction2. Overfishing and the unregulated trade of shark meat have pushed more than 114 species into vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered categories4.
Because cação can come from multiple species, including those at risk, it is impossible for consumers or authorities to ensure the meat is sourced sustainably2.
Why Action Can’t Wait
This issue is about more than just what ends up on a lunch tray — it’s about public health, biodiversity, and the right to informed choice. As long as this hidden trade continues, Brazil’s children will face unnecessary health risks and the oceans will lose more of their apex predators.
We cannot allow endangered sharks to vanish from our seas while being quietly served to the next generation. Transparency, strict labeling, and a ban on shark meat in schools are urgent steps to protect both people and wildlife.
Sign the petition today to call on Brazil’s Ministry of Education, FNDE, and Ministry of the Environment to take action to ban the use of endangered shark meat in school lunches and ensure full transparency in institutional food programs.
