Thread: Tainted seafood reaching American tables

Tainted seafood reaching American tables, experts say

80 percent of seafood in U.S. is imported, some contains banned drugs
By Nicole Gilbert

Filthy seafood infected with bacteria or tainted with drugs and antibiotics banned in the U.S. is finding its way onto the plates of Americans, according to state and federal officials, consumer advocates, academics and food safety experts.

The U.S. imported more than 17.6 million tons of seafood in the last decade, according to a News21 analysis of import data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Only about 2 percent of imported seafood is inspected, and only 0.1 percent is tested for banned drug residues, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress. That's especially alarming because 80 percent of the seafood in America is imported, according to the agency.

The FDA says it can't say for sure how many of the samples pass or fail.

But a News21 analysis of FDA import-refusal data reveals an unappetizing portrait. In more than half of cases when seafood is rejected, the fish has been deemed filthy, meaning it was spoiled or contained physical abnormalities, or it was contaminated with a foodborne pathogen. About 20 percent of those cases involved salmonella.

About this project

This three-part food safety series is the result of a partnership between msnbc.com and the Carnegie-Knight News21 program. The project, "How Safe is your Food?" was reported by 27 journalism students from Arizona State University, Harvard University, University of Maryland, University of Missouri and the University Nebraska.
.“You’re looking at fresh and frozen seafood that’s being turned away at the border by FDA because it’s decomposed and infected with salmonella,â€

Free trade is not fair trade and not SAFE TRADE.

Their risking the health of all Americans by letting this seafood in our grocery stores.

and why are we importing seafood from the other side of the planet when we have full access to the oceans surrounding us east and west?

W

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