FDA fails to apply strict standards to Asian seafood import

rassd71

I'm not sure if this is the best place or if it should be under general banter?

But I received this article in one of my aquaculture mailing lists...

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FDA fails to apply strict standards to Asian seafood imports

By Stephen J. Hedges

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Sunday, Sep. 16 2007

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration responded to jitters over Chinese imports recently by banning some of that country's seafood because of contaminants. But the agency has failed to apply the same standard to seafood supplied from other large exporters that use the same chemicals and fish-farming techniques.

Imports from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, for instance, have continued apace, despite the fact that fish-farming techniques in those Asian countries are similar to those cited by the FDA when it issued an import alert in June targeting Chinese fish.

"This is not just a China problem," said Bradford Ward, an attorney in

Washington who represents the Southern Shrimp Alliance, a group of U.S. shrimp producers. "Why are other countries trading a lot, going ahead with shrimp imports and not attracting FDA attention?"

While FDA regulators focus on China, Vietnam, in particular, has been cited by other countries for the use of antibiotics and other chemicals in its fish-farming ponds — the same substances that were cited by the FDA in its "import alert" regarding certain Chinese seafood, such as shrimp and catfish.

Japan and the European Union have recently raised concerns about the use of banned antibiotics in Vietnamese fish farms. The FDA recently issued special import alerts for Asian seafood companies — but not countries — similar to the one issued for all of China. The alerts require the companies to prove, through lab tests, that their products are safe.

Eighty-five percent of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported.

The FDA focuses on countries and companies that are known to provide contaminated fish, according to Donald Kraemer, deputy director of the agency's

Office of Food Safety. That targeted approach, he said, led to the Chinese import alert and consideration of a similar ban against Vietnam several years ago.

"Over time we have seen problems come and go in different countries," Kraemer said. "For example, a major producer of imported products is Thailand. We continue to collect samples from Thailand, but we almost never find violations."

Chet Trirat, assistant to the minister of commercial at the Thai embassy in Washington, said the use of antibiotics in fish farming in Thailand was strictly controlled.

"The use of foreign substances is illegal in Thailand," he said.

Yet FDA records show that inspectors denied entry to 203 Thai seafood products through August of this year. Typical causes included not antibiotics, but salmonella and products that inspectors found were "filthy."

The popularity of seafood in the United States and Europe has led Asian countries to promote the production of fish.

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I've personally been very curious about the import of aquaculture products and the lack of control over the quality. I first heard about problems in the North American Crayfish market as the Chinese were importing frozen tail meat at less than the cost of harvesting the crayfish here in the US. Most crayfish farmers here sell to wholesalers as the costs of establishing their own FDA approved seafood handling facility are too prohibitive. And there have been many accusations, specifically about the Chinese facilities, that they are not held to the same standards. And with the discoveries of unsafe chemicals and practices being used, it may prove to be true!

RupertofOZ

Imagine where we'd be if we left it to industry to be self-regulating....

Dead....

janethesselberth

Bleah

Time to instruct the husband that he may not buy any fish from anywhere in Asia. I had already banned Chinese fish.

tamo42

Only a few people would be dead, then the free market would respond with a vicous backlash against those countris and companies

.

DanDMan

And that is why I am growing own food! Kinda like the almost untested fda approval off spraying viruses on food to infect and kill meat rotting bacteria and then leaving it up to industry to keep it clean..

RupertofOZ

Sadly Tamo, I think you'll find most of the companies involved in either the production or import of the products are probably home based companies operating in third world countries in order to deliberately circumvent the regulatory requirements, both hygene and labour, in our countries for the sake of a fast buck.....

Free trade and capatalism at it's ugliest, but purest, best.

tamo42

I don't know much about this particular market, so I'll take your word for it. In a free market in the long run, such practices will be rejected. Of course we don't have truly free markets, so it's a wasted hypothetical exercise. Over time though, such practices would be rejected. My guess would be in favor of locally produced/caught seafood.

RupertofOZ

Quote:

would be in favor of locally produced/caught seafood.

Or grow your own :wink:

tamo42

My backyard is as local as it gets!

rassd71

Yeah, LOCAL is better because it's truly accountable. A major company poisons a consumer, but a local farm/business does it and it's a neighbor, it's a person with a name and family.

I'm also a little biased because I'm trying to start a fish farm!

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