According to the Environment Group of the Pew Charitable Trusts, salmon farming companies producing fish for export to the United States from Canada, Norway and Scotland are using pesticides and antibiotics that do not appear on the FDA/CVM Approved Drugs in Aquaculture list. In an April 23, 2009, letter to the acting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, the Pew Environment Group notes how FDA inspections have successfully addressed the use of banned drugs in Chile’s salmon farming facilities and calls for the agency to expand its focus to imports from other countries. Contending that these drugs pose threats to human health and the environment, the group cites detailed evidence suggesting that other countries are using unapproved drugs in salmon aquaculture and asks the FDA (i) whether it intends to require all companies exporting salmon to the United States to adhere to U.S. regulations; (ii) how it reconciles its requirement…
Tag Archives fish/seafood
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear a putative class action lawsuit involving claims that Tri-Union Seafoods LLC fails to warn consumers about mercury concentrations in its canned tuna fish products. Tri-Union Seafoods, L.L.C. v. Fellner, No. 08-889 (U.S., cert. denied April 20, 2009). The plaintiff filed her claims in 2006, alleging that she developed severe mercury poisoning after eating Chicken of the Sea® canned albacore tuna almost exclusively for five years. The district court dismissed the case on federal preemption grounds, but the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated it after finding that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had taken no action about alleged risks posed by mercury in fish and thus, that the lawsuit would not conflict with FDA’s “regulatory scheme.” More information about the Third Circuit’s ruling appears in issue 272 of this Update. At least one legal commentator responded to news about the rejection…
A new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report claims that a lack of cooperation among federal agencies has contributed to an increase in seafood supply chain fraud. GAO faults Customs and Border Protection, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Food and Drug Administration for failing to agree on key roles and responsibilities, identify a common goal, and establish joint strategies. “As a result, the agencies have not taken advantage of opportunities to share information that could benefit each agency’s efforts to detect and prevent seafood fraud, nor have they identified similar and sometimes overlapping activities that could be better coordinated to use limited resources more efficiently,” the report states. See foodproductiondaily.com, March 25, 2009.
A new study from the Connecticut Department of Health has challenged a recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) draft assessment weighing the benefits of fish consumption against the risks associated with mercury exposure. Gary L. Ginsberg and Brian F. Toal, “Quantitative Approach for Incorporating Methylmercury Risks and Omega-3 Fatty Acid Benefits in Developing Species-Specific Fish Consumption Advice,” Environmental Health Perspectives, February 2009. FDA had concluded that consumers may derive greater benefits from the lean protein, omega-3 oils and minerals in fish if they exceed the current safety threshold set at 12 ounces of fish per week. But the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other groups have since criticized this assessment for “serious scientific flaws,” urging consumers to abide by the safety standards currently recommended by both agencies. Meanwhile, the Connecticut Department of Health study has expanded on the FDA study by identifying some fish species, such as swordfish and shark,…
The Pew Environment Group has released documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request showing that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) faulted three Chilean salmon farming companies, “including the two largest producers of farmed salmon,” for using a number of drugs not approved by the U.S. government. FDA inspections apparently uncovered use of the antibiotics flumequine and oxolinic acid and the pesticide emamectin benzoate, as well as trace residues in products intended for the U.S. consumers. The agency then informed the Chilean companies that, “if the drug is not listed in the approved drug list . . . they are not allowed to use the drug to treat salmon destined for distribution in the U.S., not even if they meet withdrawal periods and no tissue residue can be detected.” The Pew Environment Group applauded the FDA stance, but urged the agency to enforce its standards abroad. “Standards and…
This blog post examines a fish diet trend currently sweeping Hollywood, raising questions about the safety and sustainability of certain seafood selections. According to Food & Water Watch, actor Jeremy Piven became “the rumored victim of mercury poisoning” after eating sushi twice daily, while Madonna has pledged to eat more salmon and Angelina Jolie earlier lauded her post-pregnancy diet of organic seafood. “You might remember that, at the time, there were no standards in the U.S. for organic seafood,” opines the blog, which describes proposed rules put forth by the National Organic Standards Board as “a fraud” and current EU standards as “poorly designed and incompatible with the concept of organic food.” Food & Water Watch also urges consumers to choose wild salmon over farmed, claiming that “Studies have shown that wild salmon possess lower PCB levels than farmed salmon, as the latter receive feed with greater levels of contamination.”…
FDA this week published a draft assessment weighing the risks and benefits of fish consumption for children and the general population. The assessment considers the net health effects of fish consumption on fetal neurodevelopment, as well as fatal heart disease and stroke risk in the general population. FDA is seeking “to understand the relationship between the risk of not eating fish (and thus losing any health benefits fish may provide) and the risk of eating fish that contains methylmercury at the levels currently found in the commercial fish available to consumers.” The draft concludes that in respect to neurodevelopment, maternal consumption of fish species low in methylmercury “has a significantly greater probability of resulting in a net benefit, as measured by verbal development.” Although results also indicated “a significant probability of a net adverse effect for one-tenth of one percent of children,” the FDA assessment finds that the highest net…
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition seeking review of a California Supreme Court ruling that allowed plaintiffs to pursue putative class claims alleging that grocery stores failed to inform California consumers about the artificial coloring used in the farm-raised salmon they sold. Albertson’s Inc. v. Kanter, No. 07-1327 (U.S., certiorari denied January 12, 2009). The retailers had asked the Court to find the claims preempted by the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The case should now proceed to trial. Food and Drug Administration regulations allow salmon farmers to augment the normally grayish pigment of farm-raised fish with chemicals, but also require that the use of coloring be indicated on product labels. Federal law does not allow individuals to enforce the law through litigation, but it does not, according to attorneys involved in the case, bar civil lawsuits for violations of state law. The litigation was brought on both federal and…
FDA has reportedly sent a draft report to the White House Office of Management and Budget, seeking to reverse the government's recommendation that women of childbearing years, pregnant or nursing mothers, infants, and children limit their fish intake due to possible mercury contamination. The agency has claimed that the positive health effects of omega-3 fatty acids and other beneficial nutrients found in fish outweigh the risks of dietary mercury, which can behave as a neurotoxin during early development. The draft report would update a 2004 joint advisory statement issued by FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warning women and children to avoid four types of fish high in mercury: swordfish, shark, tilefish, and king mackerel. In addition, the federal government advises these consumers to reduce their fish consumption to less than 12 ounces per week, including at most 6 ounces of canned albacore tuna. FDA apparently acted unilaterally in…
Food activist Marion Nestle reports in her “What to Eat” blog that the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board has approved a rule to allow “farmed carnivorous fish to eat meal and oil derived from sustainably wild-caught fish.” The board’s decision means that wild fish cannot be classified as organic, but farm-raised fish can be considered organic even if they eat fish meal made with wild fish. Citing Food Chemical News, Nestle notes that the board also approved the use of open net pens in organic aquaculture with restrictions to prevent farmed fish from escaping and the recycling of nutrients. “Net pens would only be allowed in specified areas to avoid lice contamination.” Consumers Union reportedly criticized the proposal at a press conference held before the board meeting at which the vote was taken, focusing on the use of “net cages,” which purportedly allow waste and disease from fish farms to…
