Fish from China, yet Another Recall!

According to a recent article on cnn.com, on the health page there is news that the FDA has blocked the importation of 5 species of fish from China.

The fish which have been blocked specifically from China are shrimp, catfish, eel, basa and dace.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced last Thursday that they were blocking the import of the Chinese fish until the importers can prove the fish are not contaminated.

The FDA has announced an alert against several species of imported Chinese farmed seafood. The reason for this is the alarming number of cases of contamination with drugs and food additives. Basically, imported food from China has gotten a bad reputation with the FDA, and it is not certain when the alert will be removed, according to the CNN report.

The species blocked include catfish, eel, shrimp, basa and dace. It was also reported on CNN that 10% of the catfish eaten in the United States is imported from China.

The drugs found in the species of seafood include antimicrobials and nitrofuran, malachite green, gentian violet and floroquinolones. Each of these chemicals are not approved by the FDA and are not allowed in farmed seafood within the United States. The chemicals have all shown to cause cancer when eaten for long periods of time.

While alerts and recommendation shave been filtering through the media waves in regard to imported food from China, Thursday's recent alert is said to be the highest.

The FDA is laying down the law when it comes to imported food, in order for the safety of the nation's citizens.

The food will not be allowed in the United States until it is 100% free from before stated chemicals.

Also according to CNN, China is currently the world's largest producer of farmed fish and seafood. Last year, the FDA put an alert on all Chinese eel after tests showed residues of an antimicrobial agent.

Bans on Chinese imports are nothing new in the United States.

For example, in 2003 the Bush administration imposed a two-year ban on imports from the Chinese arms maker NORINCO. Norinco makes a variety of household products as well as ballistic missiles, artillery, machine guns, tanks, lasers, radars and surface-to-air missiles. The Bush administration ban was placed in order to protect the nation's citizens. (Newsmax.com, 5-27-2003) The article by Charles R. Smith was published in May of 2003.

Also reported by NPR (National Public Radio), catfish was tested and banned first in Alabama. There were reported fish fillet imports which contained harmful antibiotics.

The health threats are only one factor to take into consideration with the imported fish. There is also the effect of an economical risk for the Mississippi Delta in particular. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10141686. The story by Melanie Peeples also highlighted the fact that many southern states originally began importing seafood from Asia because it was so cheap to get. However, the cost has proved to be much more than this nation bargained for.

Another article published by the Washington Post in May of 2007 also highlighted the danger of imported foods from China such as dried apples, frozen catfish, scallops, sardines and mushrooms. Apparently there were 107 food imports from China which were detained at the U.S. ports in 2007 thus far.

Another major import conflict has been with that of pet food from China. Dangerous chemicals caused the recall of pet food throughout the nation in order to ensure pet safety.

Legislation has gone through loopholes in order that Chinese food may still be imported and processed in China.

With all the recent news on Chinese imports, it is a wonder why so many Americans and companies still desire the imported food. It all boils down to funding. Companies want to spend as little as possible to have food packaged and processed for America's consumer driven economy.

American citizens, in turn, want to spend as little money as possible on food, so that they can buy more of it.

The best advice for American consumers is to check food labels carefully, and consider where the food on their shelves comes from, as well as the processes it goes through.

It is also of course important to stay up to date on the latest recalls of imported food.