Americans eating fish imported into the U.S. may be getting more than they bargained for.
FairWarning.org reports that chemicals banned in this country including carcinogens, are routinely showing up in imported fish, a cause for concern since 80 percent of fish eaten in this country is caught outside of the U.S. Three fish importers in Mobile, Alabama have pled guilty to felony charges of mislabeling fish brought into Mobile and Seattle that contained the carcinogen, malachite green, and for an antibiotic prohibited from being sold in fish consumed in the U.S.
The General Accounting Office (GAO), in an audit released in April, blames the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for screening less than one percent of fish coming into the U.S. Unless a state has a fishing industry, it usually does not test.
Florida does test its fish and in 2007 found 19 percent of catfish tested were positives for the antibiotic, flouroquinolones. Along with Alabama, which also tests, Florida officials have been detecting dangerous drugs in imported fish as well as banned chemicals used to fight parasites and diseases common among farmed fish.
The Food Safety Modernization Act, signed into law in January, promises to give the FDA new tools to hold food importers to the same standard as domestic food marketers.
It’s estimated about 48 million Americans are sickened and 3,000 die from food borne diseases each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If you or a loved one are sickened by unsafe foods that a distributor knew or should have known was dangerous, you may have the basis for a product liability lawsuit in Florida to stop the wrongdoer and recover your medical expenses, lost wages, and other costs.
Sources: http://www.fairwarning.org/2011/07/imported-fish-with-banned-chemicals-reaching-u-s-consumers/ and http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FSMA/ucm237934.htm
