Possibly Tainted Fish From China Detained by FDA for Inspection

[Vegas]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287210,00.html

WASHINGTON — Farmed seafood has now joined tires, toothpaste and toy trains on the list of tainted and defective products from China that could be hazardous to a person's health.

Federal health officials said Thursday they were detaining three types of Chinese fish -- catfish, basa and dace -- as well as shrimp and eel after repeated testing turned up contamination with drugs unapproved in the United States for use in farmed seafood.

The officials said there have been no reports of illnesses nor do the products pose any immediate health risk. They stopped short of ordering a ban on the fresh and frozen seafood.

The Food and Drug Administration announcement was the latest in an expanding series of problems with imported Chinese products that seemingly permeate U.S. society.

Beyond the fish, federal regulators have recently warned consumers about lead paint in toy trains, defective tires, and toothpaste made with diethylene glycol, a toxic ingredient more commonly found in antifreeze. All the products were imported from China.

[LSU]

Good. The industry here needs a boost.

[Vegas]

Good. The industry here needs a boost.

If the government required all fish (including that served in restaurants) to have labels showing the country of origin, that would give the industry here a boost. And I'd be completely for it.

[LSU]

If the government required all fish (including that served in restaurants) to have labels showing the country of origin, that would give the industry here a boost. And I'd be completely for it.



There's a lot of shit aquaculture goes through. Mainly because it's a young (relatively speaking) industry. All the ones that came before it (poultry, cattle, pork, etc) all had their fuckups and so aquaculture gets punished for it. Also, the big 3 have much larger lobbies, so they get all the cool benefits (like new drugs) whereas aquaculture sits and waits for the scraps.

Catfish farmers are really starting to sink...granted part of that is their own problem.

But the for fish that are grown, the more work I'll have, so I'm a bit selfish about it.

[Vegas]

There's a lot of shit aquaculture goes through. Mainly because it's a young (relatively speaking) industry. All the ones that came before it (poultry, cattle, pork, etc) all had their fuckups and so aquaculture gets punished for it. Also, the big 3 have much larger lobbies, so they get all the cool benefits (like new drugs) whereas aquaculture sits and waits for the scraps.

Catfish farmers are really starting to sink...granted part of that is their own problem.

But the for fish that are grown, the more work I'll have, so I'm a bit selfish about it.

There's nothing wrong with lobbying for something like marking Chinese catfish as coming from China. With the dog food, toothpaste, and now specifically catfish scare now is the time.

If you look at the grassroots effort that defeated the amnesty bill, you can see what's possible.

[LSU]

There's nothing wrong with lobbying for something like marking Chinese catfish as coming from China. With the dog food, toothpaste, and now specifically catfish scare now is the time.

If you look at the grassroots effort that defeated the amnesty bill, you can see what's possible.



Oh yeah...I'm all for marking the meat for country of origin, but if you see catfish at $2 a pound from China and $3.50 from the US...where will most people get their fish from?

That's something that just can't be gotten around. I can complain about regulations and stuff all day, but in the end, the price of the fillet will be cheaper where the labor is cheaper.

Now, the substances the fish are tainted with could help lower that price, too, so forcing them to adhere to our standards might help...but I don't think it's going to make a big difference.


The other problem is that there are about 4 fish industries in the US...trout/salmon, catfish, hybrid striped bass, and tilapia. But for the most part, they're separate entities. There's the catfish lobby in the SE, the trout/salmon in NW and NE, HSB in the east, and tilapia in the SW. Compare those individually to the cattle ranchers and such...not a very loud voice.

But really, that's something that the industry has to figure out, can't wait for someone to do it for them.

[Hotpapa666]

Ban all food from China until they demonstrate that they can produce wholesome, untaited food suitable for consumption by the American consumer. Period.

I listen to a lot of pod-casts, it's my only link to American radio, and on one they talked about imported chinese food. They threw out some numbers that I vaguely remember (and don't have to desire to research fully) but something like 1% of shipments from China are inspected at US ports. In a 2-3 month period this year, something like 15-20 shipments were found unsuitalbe and sent back (perhaps so they can try to get through the ports uninspected) the reason for rejection was mostly that the food was putrid. Extrapolate that out and that's 1,500 to 2,000 shipments of putrid food from china entering the U.S. every 2-3 months. That is unexceptable.

I won't even start on how absurd it is to ship fish half way around the world when we have the potential to farm enormous amounts of fish in the U.S..

Here's an article, that looks to be from a pretty conservative source, that highlights some of the points of one of the pod-casts. It doesn't completely jib with my memory but I'm too lazy to edit my post.

Here's a link.
http://www.tfp.org/TFPForum/TFPCommentary/trouble_brewing_in_china.html

[LSU]

I wonder if Pnk will change his mind about China's more "natural" fish farming...

[LSU]

Ban all food from China until they demonstrate that they can produce wholesome, untaited food suitable for consumption by the American consumer. Period.

I listen to a lot of pod-casts, it's my only link to American radio, and on one they talked about imported chinese food. They threw out some numbers that I vaguely remember (and don't have to desire to research fully) but something like 1% of shipments from China are inspected at US ports. In a 2-3 month period this year, something like 15-20 shipments were found unsuitalbe and sent back (perhaps so they can try to get through the ports uninspected) the reason for rejection was mostly that the food was putrid. Extrapolate that out and that's 1,500 to 2,000 shipments of putrid food from china entering the U.S. every 2-3 months. That is unexceptable.

I won't even start on how absurd it is to ship fish half way around the world when we have the potential to farm enormous amounts of fish in the U.S..

Here's an article, that looks to be from a pretty conservative source, that highlights some of the points of one of the pod-casts. It doesn't completely jib with my memory but I'm too lazy to edit my post.

Here's a link.
http://www.tfp.org/TFPForum/TFPCommentary/trouble_brewing_in_china.html

I can only hope Japan isn't as bad. I love me some tuna steaks.

[Hotpapa666]

I can only hope Japan isn't as bad. I love me some tuna steaks.


I hope so too... Tuna is great isn't? And, the quality of the tuna here compared to back home is amazing. I know it's cliche, but they really keep the good stuff for themselves. Shitty beef and pork though...

[LSU]

I hope so too... Tuna is great isn't? And, the quality of the tuna here compared to back home is amazing. I know it's cliche, but they really keep the good stuff for themselves. Shitty beef and pork though...



Tuna is my favorite fish. Even from the can, although I prefer the steaks better. Cooked anyway. Sometimes it's good to have it very rare, other times cooked through to get the good grilling flavor.

It's about the only fish I feel relatively comfortable eating raw.

Too bad for me it's usually about $10 a pound around here.

[Vegas]

Oh yeah...I'm all for marking the meat for country of origin, but if you see catfish at $2 a pound from China and $3.50 from the US...where will most people get their fish from?

That's something that just can't be gotten around. I can complain about regulations and stuff all day, but in the end, the price of the fillet will be cheaper where the labor is cheaper.

Now, the substances the fish are tainted with could help lower that price, too, so forcing them to adhere to our standards might help...but I don't think it's going to make a big difference.


The other problem is that there are about 4 fish industries in the US...trout/salmon, catfish, hybrid striped bass, and tilapia. But for the most part, they're separate entities. There's the catfish lobby in the SE, the trout/salmon in NW and NE, HSB in the east, and tilapia in the SW. Compare those individually to the cattle ranchers and such...not a very loud voice.

But really, that's something that the industry has to figure out, can't wait for someone to do it for them.

I would happily pay the extra money for the domestic catfish.

[LSU]

I would happily pay the extra money for the domestic catfish.



I would, too.

But most others...wouldn't.

[Ed Who?]

The FDA isn't being reasonable. On a per capita basis, the contaminants in the food and other products is on a par with the US.

[LSU]

The FDA isn't being reasonable. On a per capita basis, the contaminants in the food and other products is on a par with the US.



I don't know which contaminants you speak of specifically, but I would be surprised if the US products have malachite green and ciprofloxacin residues in them as the Chinese imports do, at least as reported by the article I read in the paper this morning.

Malachite green is a known carcinogen and was banned from fish culture use years ago. Cipro is one of the last effective antibiotics and was the one used for the anthrax stuff in 2001. If this is in the environment in low levels, microorganisms have a much better chance of developing resistance to it...

[Ed Who?]

I don't know which contaminants you speak of specifically, but I would be surprised if the US products have malachite green and ciprofloxacin residues in them as the Chinese imports do, at least as reported by the article I read in the paper this morning.

Malachite green is a known carcinogen and was banned from fish culture use years ago. Cipro is one of the last effective antibiotics and was the one used for the anthrax stuff in 2001. If this is in the environment in low levels, microorganisms have a much better chance of developing resistance to it...

This is obviously one reason why, at least in my mind, pharma companies are justified in the high price of drugs. New classes of biologically active chemistry are difficult to discover, and the more money that's invested in R&D, the better chance that we have to find molecules that tackle the resistant strains.

[LSU]

This is obviously one reason why, at least in my mind, pharma companies are justified in the high price of drugs. New classes of biologically active chemistry are difficult to discover, and the more money that's invested in R&D, the better chance that we have to find molecules that tackle the resistant strains.


Agreed. But that's for the other thread.


Then again, if you could get Doctors to not cave into patients demands for antibiotics for every sniffle and get patients to use their antibiotics as prescribed and not save them for later after they "feel better" that would eliminate a lot of the resistance problems...or at least slow them down.

Also, when you have a drug that is working, don't allow others to be used. That's another problem. Company A finds something that works 99% of the time, and company B scurries to make something a little different but with the same results. Use them both at the same time and the bugs develop resistance to both rather than using them in succession...one works for 10-20 years and when there's resistance, you break out the new one which works for another 10-20 years.

But no. Money is really the important part, not doing what's in the best interest of the consumer.