A bipartisan group including Congresswoman Rose DeLauro (D-CT), Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC) asked the Obama Administration to ensure public health is protected as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement is negotiated. Two countries involved in this agreement, Vietnam and Malaysia, are seafood exporters and have raised red flags. The group is concerned that seafood imported from those two countries could be contaminated. The letter states, "in Fiscal Year 2012, imported seafood products from Vietnam, the fifth largest exporter of shrimp to the United States, were refused entry 206 times because of concerns including filth, decomposition, drug residues, unapproved food additives, and Salmonella... U.S. Customers and Border Protection … [Read more...]
Chefs: Something’s Fishy About Imported Seafood Traceability
Despite our growing demand for information about where the seafood we eat comes from, Americans seldom get answers when it comes to imported fish and seafood. That’s why a group of more than 500 chefs and restaurant owners are calling on government leaders to require that all seafood in U.S. markets can be traced. Improving traceability will prevent fraud and keep seafood, which is sometimes illegally mislabeled out of U.S. markets, the group says. “Recent studies have found that seafood may be mislabeled as often as 25 to 70 percent of the time for popular species like red snapper, wild salmon and Atlantic cod, disguising fish that are less desirable, cheaper or more readily available,” the group’s letter to government leaders says. “With about 1,700 different species of seafood from … [Read more...]
