http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56004
Monday, June 4, 2007
Seafood imports from China raised in untreated sewage
Fish products consumed by Americans treated with dangerous drugs,
chemicals
By Joseph Farah
WASHINGTON - China, the leading exporter of seafood to the U.S., is
raising most of its fish products in water contaminated with raw
sewage and compensating by using dangerous drugs and chemicals, many
of which are banned by the Food and Drug Administration.
The stunning news follows WND's report last week that FDA inspectors
report tainted food imports from China are being rejected with
increasing frequency because they are filthy, are contaminated with
pesticides and tainted with carcinogens, bacteria and banned drugs.
China has consistently topped the list of countries whose products
were refused by the FDA - and that list includes many countries,
including Mexico and Canada, who export far more food products to the
U.S. than China.
While less than half of Asia has access to sewage treatment plants,
aquaculture - the raising of seafood products - has become big
business on the continent, especially in China.
In China, No. 1 in aquaculture in the world, 3.7 billion tons of
sewage is discharged into rivers, lakes and coastal water - some of
which are used by the industry. Only 45 percent of China has any
sewage-treatment facilities, putting the country behind the rest of
Asia.
According to a new report by Food & Water Watch, the aquaculture
industry crams fish and shellfish into facilities to maximize
production, generating large amounts of waste, contaminating water and
spreading disease if left untreated. The industry tries to control the
spread of bacterial infections, disease and parasites by pumping the
food supplies with antibiotics and the waters with fungicides and
pesticides.
Many of the products used are banned in the U.S. Traces of these drugs
have been showing up increasingly in imports - especially from China.
"In addition to potentially making people sick, overuse of such drugs
is contributing to antibiotic resistance, a growing public health
concern in a variety of foods," says Food & Water Watch in its report
"Import Alert: Government Fails Consumers, Falls Short on Seafood
Inspections."
But the grave news on China's seafood exports is worsened by the FDA's
inability to inspect imports. The percentage of important seafood
shipments with samples taken for laboratory inspection has decreased
over the past four years, from 0.88 percent in 2003 to 0.59 percent in
2006 - this while seafood consumption in the U.S. was rising and more
of that seafood was coming from China.
China became the leading exporter of seafood to the U.S. in 2004 - and
amounts are rising fast. Chinese imports were up 14 percent in 2005
and 23 percent in 2006. This year, so far, they are up 34 percent over
2006.
"China's imports of aquaculture products are increasing despite the
country's history of violations for veterinary drug residues," says
Food & Water Watch. "Between 2003 and 2006, 35 percent of all refusals
for veterinary drug residues were found on shipments from China. In
2006, 62.4 percent of all refusals for veterinary drug residues came
from there."
Every year, one in four Americans is afflicted with a food-borne
illness, with seafood being responsible for about 18 percent of 20
percent of those cases - or 15.2 million.
"The Food and Drug Administration can't find what it's not looking
for," says Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter.
"FDA's appalling record on inspecting seafood imports is irresponsible
and poses a real threat to both the health of the American public and
to homeland security."
Meanwhile, as the heat on China's export policies increases, Beijing
is adamant that it is doing nothing wrong, and brands warnings issued
by U.S. officials irresponsible - as in the case the latest scare over
toothpaste contaminated with diethylene glycol.
"So far we have not received any report of death resulting from using
the toothpaste," fumed China's General Administration of Quality
Supervision. "The U.S. handling (of this case) is neither scientific
nor responsible."
The FDA issued a warning Friday after toothpaste containing DEG was
detected in a shipment seized at the border. The government says at
least 100 people died after taking cough syrup containing DEG, an
industrial solvent used in paint and antifreeze.
China's dismal drug-safety record was underscored this week by a
Chinese court's decision to sentence to death the country's former top
drug regulator.
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