sea food
The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates, however, that 90% of shrimp eaten in the U.S. is imported mostly from Ecuador, China, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Mexico and Vietnam.
"About 80 percent of the seafood we eat in the U.S. is imported, but less than 2 percent of those imports are actually inspected for contaminants like filth, antibiotics, chemicals and pathogens" said Cufone, from the Food & Water Watch.
The Food and Drug Administration have exposed an often repeated occurrence of harmful contaminants in imported seafood, through conducting a small number of random searches.
It is thought that a number of the health hazards originate from how the shrimp are raised overseas.
Correctly operated shrimp farms yield up to 445 pounds per acre. Food & Water Watch, which has long observed aquaculture, has documented that numerous foreign shrimp farm operators pack their ponds densely, in order to produce as much as 89,000 pounds of shrimp per acre.
A researcher’s recent report stated, "The water is quickly polluted with waste, which can infect the shrimp with disease and parasites. In response, many such operations in Asia and South or Central America use large quantities of antibiotics, disinfectants and pesticides that would be illegal for use in U.S. shrimp farms."
“With imported shrimp, we see pathogens like E. coli and salmonella, and filth, which is the official name for things like mouse and rat droppings, hair, insects, and the assorted chemicals, antibiotic and disinfectants they're doused with to fight disease from the filthy conditions in which they're raised." Cufone says this is not a "maybe" situation.
The FDA states that because it does not have enough personnel and laboratory capability, under 2% of imported seafood is examined.
“There are millions of food products imported from 200 countries” said Mike Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods at the Food and Drug Administration.
In order to avoid high import tariffs and intensified scrutiny for dangerous adulterants, import brokers often ship seafood from countries like China to other countries. Food investigators can't always be sure where the seafood actually issue from. The United States Customs and Border Protection agency says millions of dollars of imported shrimp from Chinese manufacturers were shipped through Indonesia, so as to avoid paying steep anti-dumping duties.
It is good advice to buy local product you know and can trust wherever possible.
For more information about "Is Imported Seafood Healthy?", visit website http://www.tropicpost.com/
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