August 16, 2012
Vietnamese region Mekong Delta's seafood samples have been infected with banned chemicals at a higher-than-permitted level.
The National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD) under Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, found one tilapia sample in a raising facility in the Long My district in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang contained high residue of Sulfonamides.
Local authorities also detected high-level contamination of Enrofloxacin of four samples of pangasius fish and tilapia in aquaculture farms in Tien Giang and Ben Tre provinces.
Trifluralin, another banned chemical in aquaculture, is also found in pangasius fish in an aquatic farm in Vinh Long province, the NAFIQAD said.
Seafood products, infected with banned chemicals, are not allowed to enter many foreign markets. A number of Vietnamese seafood batches have been rejected by Japanese, Canadian and Russian authorities since they had been detected to contain chemicals harmful for human health.
