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IT may be unpalatable to discuss over the dinner table, but American researchers are warning that some types of imported seafood may contain human waste.
Michael Doyle, a microbiologist with the University of Georgia, told a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans recently that this is because a lot of fish is now coming from countries where sanitary standards for production are not as stringent as those in Canada or the United States. There are also similar fears with fresh produce.
However, he stressed that consumers should not rule out all food from these countries as ‘unsafe’, pointing out that most food manufacturers will only import ingredients or products if they can verify that they have been produced in sanitary conditions.
In addition, Mr Doyle said that food safety standards are not the same throughout the world, pointing to the use of domestic sewage and livestock manure in some Asian fish farms, and the use of pesticides for agriculture and antibiotics for fish and shrimp production in China that are not approved for use in the United States.
Part of the problem, he said, is there is just so much coming into the country that the government can not inspect it all.
The US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) physically inspects less than one percent of more than 10 million imported entries annually. But the onus should not be entirely on the government he argued.
"It is incumbent on food processors to ensure ingredients or products they import are produced under good sanitary practices. It is the industry that is responsible for producing safe foods. It is the government's responsibility to verify that they are providing safe foods," said Mr Doyle. The reality was that the US would go on importing seafood and produce at a greater rate because labour costs in developing countries were much lower.
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