January 26, 2007

Turbot farmers in Shandong to sue Shanghai food safety agency

Turbot raisers in Shandong Province are filing a lawsuit against the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration over its inconsistent food safety criteria for fishery products, the Qingdao Turbot Association said Thursday (Jan 24).

In late November last year, thousands of turbots were pulled from local markets after the administration announced it found carcinogenic antibiotics in the fish.

The decision caused "huge economic losses" for turbot raisers in Shandong, the largest turbot producing area in China. It is said the lawsuit will target Shanghai's inconsistent fishery products criteria.

According to an official familiar with the case, China has three food safety standards for fishery products and only the "export standard" requires zero antibiotics in fishery products.

In China, antibiotics below certain levels can be found in many fishery products in the domestic market, he said.

Last November, Shanghai food safety watchdogs issued a warning for turbot after small amounts of a antibiotic and antibiotic residue were found in samples.

However, the levels were not high enough to cause cancer, and were only about 0.3 percent of the recommended dosage when AOZ is used to treat diarrhea, experts said.

Wang Longxing, head of the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration, said at a news conference on Wednesday that he fully understands the anguish of the fish farmers. However, the agency's main role was to safeguard public health, and that is why the warning was absolutely reasonable.