FDA Joins Odom in Efforts to Protect
Consumers
June 29, 2007
Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Bob Odom
lauded the FDA’s recent decision to tighten
restrictions on Chinese seafood producers exporting
their product to the U.S.
“I’ve been aware of a problem since the beginning of
May,” Odom said. “I put a stop order on Chinese
seafood entering Louisiana two months ago because
our sampling showed some of the product was tainted
with antibiotics banned in seafood production by the
FDA.”
Odom is requiring seafood from China and Vietnam to
be tested by an approved lab for fluoroquinolone
contamination. If the product tests negative for the
banned substance it can be sold.
The new FDA requirement holds five species of
seafood from China at the port until it is tested
for fluoroquinolones and three other banned
substances.
“This is an important decision by the FDA because it
helps maintain consumer confidence in seafood.
Without consumer confidence in the product, there
will be no industry,” Odom said. “If we allow
seafood into this country that does not meet our
high standards, consumers might stop eating seafood
altogether whether it is domestic or foreign.”
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