FDA Holds Contaminated Seafood Imported From China

04/07/07 The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is detaining imports of farm-raised seafood from China because they have repeatedly been found to contain residues of drugs not approved in the US for farm-raised aquatic animals.

The products affected are catfish, basa, shrimp, dace (a relative of the carp) and eel imported from China.

This follows a number of recent health warnings related to imports from China, from toothpaste containing diethylene glycol (a product used in antifreeze), to toy trains containing lead, and pet foods contaminated with melamine.

The FDA said it will be detaining these products at the border until they are shown to be free of contamination.

So far there have been no reports of people getting ill and the products do not pose an immediate health risk. The FDA said it has taken this action, with the Department of Health and Human Services, to protect American consumers:

"We're taking this strong step because of current and continuing evidence that certain Chinese aquaculture products imported into the United States contain illegal substances that are not permitted in seafood sold in the United States," said the FDA's assistant commissioner for food protection, Dr David Acheson.

"We will accept entries of these products from Chinese firms that demonstrate compliance with our requirements and safety standards," he added.

The FDA found the contaminated products when it carried out targeted sampling between October 2006 and May 2007. They found the products contained four antimicrobials not approved for use in the US.

Three of the antimicrobials found, nitrofuran, malachite green, gentian violet, are known carcinogens from lab studies on long term exposure in animals. Nitrofuran is an anitbiotic and the other two are anti-fungals.

The fourth antimicrobial, fluoroquinolone, increases resistance to the important class of antibiotics to which it belongs. And is of a type that only requires low exposure and resistance occurs quite rapidly. The FDA is concerned that this does not get into the food chain because it is important that the population does not develop resistance to this type of antibiotic. A more familiar antibiotic in this class is the broad spectrum antibiotic ciprofloxacin (brand name Cipro), which is also used as a treatment for the inhaled form of anthrax (it made headline news in 2001 in connection with the anthrax attacks).

It is worrying that not only are these substances banned for use in aquaculture farming in the US, but three of them are also banned in China. According to the Chinese authorities, only fluoroquinolones are allowed to be used.

The FDA pointed out that the levels of drug residues faound have been very low. They are not going to recall product that has already out in the market and they are not asking consumers to destroy or return any they may already have bought. They are more concerned about the long term exposure from repeated consumption, and the potential development of antibiotic resistance.

The FDA may allow imports to resume if the importer has documented evidence that the products are free of the drug residues and that preventive controls are in place.