FDA imposes ban on imports of Chinese seafood

After imposing ban on imports of China-made defective and tainted products, including toothpastes and toy trains, the U.S Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday that it will block imports of Chinese farm-raised catfish, shrimp and other seafood because they contain harmful residues.

The US health watchdog stressed that although the products do not pose any immediate health risk because of low levels of the substances, but the chance of developing serious health problems are broad if the product is consumed during a long period of time.

FDA said there have been no reports of illnesses so far and nor do the products pose any immediate health risk.

"Despite extensive communication between FDA and appropriate Chinese authorities to correct the problem, we've continued to find residues of certain veterinary drugs and food additives that are not permitted for use in the U.S. in farm fish products," said Margaret O' K. Glavin, FDA Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs.

The US health authorities said they are detaining farm-raised seafood, including catfish, basa, shrimp, dace and eel, until the importer can show the products are free of residues, and have met U.S. requirements and safety standards.

The FDA said it found residues of anti-fungal malachite green and gentian violet, or antibiotics known as nitrofurans and fluoroquinolones in 25% of the Chinese imported fish sampled from October through May.

Malachite green also called aniline green is a toxic chemical primarily used as a dye. This chemical dye has been shown to cause cancer in rats fed with mega doses. Gentian violet, commonly used to treat athlete's foot and ringworm, can be bought in drugstores.

Nitrofurans, a class of human antibiotics basically used to inhibit bacterial growth, are considered carcinogenic and capable of causing DNA damage. According to the FDA, the wide-scale use of fluoroquinolones, including ciprofloxacin, sold as Cipro, lead to bacterial resistance and make the drugs less effective in treating humans.

The Chinese government had been taking steps to improve inspection of farm-raised seafood exports, but they fall too short to prevent the ban, said David Acheson, the FDA's assistant commissioner for food protection.

The U.S. imports 81% of its seafood from China, the top producer of aquaculture products, with 50 percent of the total value of global aquaculture seafood exports around the world. According to US’s National Fisheries Institute, about 7% of the country’s shrimp and 10% of its catfish come from China. In 2006, the United States imported $2.3 billion in agricultural goods from China.

The recent ban follows United State’s two previous bans on China-made products, toothpaste and wooden Railway toys.

FDA issued a warning against the use of China-made toothpastes, saying they may contain a toxic chemical diethylene glycol (DEG), a fatal substance that took wads of deaths in several Central American countries, due to consumption of contaminated Chinese made cough medicines.

FDA’s warning to discard all Chinese made toothpastes was issued when the US health watchdog FDA found the presence of DEG in Chinese-made toothpastes at three stores: a Dollar Plus store in Miami, a Todo A Peso store in Puerto Rico and a store in Los Angeles. The whole process also led to a mounting debate over the safety and security of food and other products imported from China.

Nearly month after this, around 1.5 million China-made Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway toys were recalled from the stores because of high amounts of lead in the paint the toys are coated with, which could be harmful for children’s health if taken in by them. Since last year six other toys, including bracelets, charms and army toy sets, have been removed from Canadian stores.