May 21, 2007

FDA detects more tainted seafood in past four months than whole of 2006

Antibiotics-tainted seafood seems to be on the rise as the FDA has rejected as many shipments during the first four months of 2007 as it did the entire year last year, Food & Water Watch, a consumer advocacy group said.

The group found that 113 shipments had been refused in January through April of this year, compared to 125 refusals for all of 2006.

Of the 113 refusals, 78 were imports from China, including 29 refused shipments of Chinese catfish and 22 refused shipments of Chinese shrimp.

The refused shipments were detected from the 1 percent of all seafood imports that are checked.

While such drugs, like flouroquinolones, ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin are often used in fish fish farms in Asia, residues from them could result in life-threatening allergic reactions and may encourage development of drug-resistant bacteria, the consumer group said.

The US government should ban Chinese food imports until it can proven that food from China is safe, Food & Water Watch said.

Reflecting escalating concerns on food safety, legislation is on the way to grant the FDA greater power to inspect imported seafood for safety.