News item [03-2007]:
July 13, 2007
Antibiotics in Seafood
On 28 June the United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) announced that all imports of certain types of seafood including eels, catfish, Basa, prawns and Dace (related to carp) would be detained from importation into the USA unless the shipment could be proven to be free of residues of antibiotics.
In surveys of Chinese aqua-cultured seafood imported into the USA they have consistently and continually found evidence of antibiotics that are not permitted in seafood sold in the USA.
The antibiotics include particularly Nitrofurans, Malachite Green, Crystal (gentian ) violet, and Fluoroquinolones. The first three have been shown to be carcinogenic with long term exposure in lab animals. The concern with the use of fluoroquinolones in food animals is that its use may increase antibiotic resistance of micro-organisms to this class of antibiotics with subsequent inability to use this critically important class of antibiotics in human medicine.
None of these substances are permitted for use in seafood in Australia although the Fluroquinolones are used and permitted in Chinese aquaculture. In Australia, currently AQIS regularly tests 5% of a random selection of imported seafood from all sources for the presence of Nitrofuran and Chloramphenicol only (see AQIS website).
Advanced Analytical can test for a full range of up to 50 antibiotics in any seafood including but not exclusively 4 Nitrofurans, Chloramphenicol and thiamphenicol, Tylosin, and Erthyromicin, Penicillins, 4 Tetracyclines, 14 Sulfa compounds, as well as 9 Fluoroquinolones and Malachite green and Crystal violet and their metabolites. Testing to trace levels of 1 or 2 ppb is possible for these antibiotics. For the testing of any antibiotic or related compound please contact us. For the testing of any imported seafood shipments or for export certification for your seafood product please contact Attila Tottszer on 02 98889077 or Andrew Bradbury on 07 38622510 for information and quotations.
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