One after another, China is facing stiff criticism from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as farmed seafood has now joined tires, toothpaste and toy trains on the list of tainted products from China that could be harmful to a person’s health.
The Food and Drug Administration has put a hold on five species of farmed Chinese seafood import, including the catfish, basa, shrimp, dace and eel, after repeated testing has turned up contamination with drugs unapproved in the United States for use in farmed seafood. Therefore regulators, because of possible contamination with unsafe drugs, will detain some seafood imported to the U.S. from China.
The FDA discloses that Chinese seafood is under suspicion of possible contaminants of hazardous malachite green and gentian violet, used to prevent fungal infections in fish, and fluoroquinolones and nitrofurans, which are antibiotics.
Some of the chemicals have been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals, and the use of fluoroquinolones in animals may increase resistance to these ‘critically important’ types of antibiotics.
Nitrofurans and malachite green is already banned in China for seafood production, but Fluoroquinolones is permitted for use.
America receives about 18 percent of the 5.11 billion pounds of seafood imported from China and such type of possible contamination can debar it in the future. U.S. authorities have decided to take severe action against Chinese import as in the recent months they’ve received an army of tainted food allegations.
Democrat Senator from New York, Charles Schumer, asserts:
We need stricter standards, more thorough inspections, and harsher penalties for Chinese companies and American shippers that turn a blind eye to safety
Over the decade, America has impeached China many a times for contaminated food and drugs. FDA directly intervened in 2001, when America shortlisted Chinese seafood that contained outlawed drugs and handled the imports on a case-by-case basis until the recent testing showed widespread contamination.
Mississippi and Alabama restricted sales this year of some catfish from China after finding traces of antibiotics banned in the U.S.
China, meanwhile, insisted that the safety of its products is ‘guaranteed’, but didn’t come up with any clear idea how they’ll be implementing it and at what degree.
