April 20, 2007

Norwegian salmon clear of drug residues for the past 8 years
 

Of the 20,000 samples of farmed salmon checked by Norway's National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES) for the past 8 years, none have been found with any drug residues, the institute said.

Bjorn Tore Lunestad, researcher in the Seafood Safety Programmeme at the National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES) said. 

At the laboratory, drug residues are analysed using 22 different analytical methods. The detection limit for current chemical methods are between 0.2 to 50.0 nanogrammes drug residue per gramme sample, which is far below levels for medicinal products, said Lunestad.

Use of antibiotics has dropped drastically in the past two decades. Current levels are now only 2 percent of that used in 1987.

During the same period, farmed fish production has grown six-fold to 600,000 tonnes.