Auust 17, 2007

New Zealand criticized for lax supervision on seafood from China

Chinese seafood in New Zealand should be treated with caution despite assurances from the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, New Zealand's Green Party said.

The NZFSA found drug residues of nitrofuran among the 31 samples it took but still assured the population that Chinese seafood is safe for consumption, the Green Party's Food Safety spokesperson Sue Kedgley said. In other countries, such as the US and EU, the seafood would have been banned because nitrofuran is a carcinogen, she added.

Kedgley expressed shock and dismay that NZFSA is taking a casual attitude towards the drug discovery. NZFSA only decided to conduct tests only after Kedgley drew attention to the issue and after US authorities found contamined samples and banned seafood from China.

Kedgley also fumed that New Zealand authorities imported 740 tonnes of shrimp last year but only 31 samples were tested. Kedgley said there should be regular testing to ensure that New Zealand consumers are not being exposed to potentially harmful contaminants.

Repeated shipments of contaminated seafood from China has forced the US to ban shipments until they can be proven to contain no drug residues, she noted. Australia is also imposing a ban on raw shrimps that are not disease-free, she pointed out.

The lack of testing and the cavalier attitude is putting New Zealand consumers at risk, she said.