GAO Report Asks Why FDA Won’t Ask Foreign Suppliers to Do More to Stop Shipments of Contaminated Seafood

Over the last several years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has significantly increased the agency’s testing of imported shrimp for banned antibiotics.  According to data released by the FDA to the Southern Shrimp Alliance in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the number of tests conducted by the agency has increased tenfold since the beginning of […]

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Minh Phu Leads the FDA’s March Shrimp Refusals for Antibiotics; Japanese and Canadian Government Reporting Also Indicate Issues

This morning, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) released information regarding entry line refusals for the month of March.  In total, 7 of the 209 (3.3%) of the entry line refusals reported for last month were of shrimp for reasons related to banned antibiotics. In addition, the FDA reported refusing another 7 entry lines of shrimp exported from China […]

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FDA Refusals for Banned Antibiotics in Shrimp Lowest Since October 2013

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released information reporting that, in October, there were 142 seafood entry lines refused entry into the United States, of which only 1 (0.7%) was of shrimp refused for reasons related to banned antibiotics. This was the lowest number of refusals of shrimp for reasons related to banned antibiotics since October 2013.  For […]

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Shipments of Vietnamese Shrimp Contaminated with Antibiotics Discovered by FDA Again in November

News Alert:  Shipments of Vietnamese Shrimp Contaminated with Antibiotics Discovered by FDA Again in November Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published information regarding entry line refusals for the month of November.  The agency reported refusing a total of 129 seafood entry lines last month.  Of these, 9 (7.0%) were of shrimp entry lines refused for reasons related […]

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1 Comment on Shipments of Vietnamese Shrimp Contaminated with Antibiotics Discovered by FDA Again in November

SSA Asks FDA to Take Additional Action Regarding Shrimp Shipped from Malaysia

Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) refused 203 entry lines of imports of shrimp for reasons related to veterinary drug residues.  In the three years prior (2011 through 2013), the FDA reported refusing a grand total of 253 entry lines of shrimp for the same reasons. The substantial increase in refusals is the result of a number […]

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Know Your Supplier Update: FDA Refusing Record Amounts of Shrimp Contaminated with Banned Antibiotics

For November 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has reported that the agency refused a total of 82 entry lines of seafood.  Of these refusals, 21 were for antibiotic contamination of shrimp products. This reporting continues the recent trend of increased FDA regulatory action to counter the continued presence of banned antibiotics in imported shrimp.  As shown in […]

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Know Your Supplier (Update): The Broken Record, Banned Antibiotics, and Vietnamese Shrimp

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) recently released information regarding refusals of imported seafood in June 2014.  In total, 126 entry lines of seafood products were refused last month.  Of these, a remarkable 25 were shipments of shrimp refused for contamination with banned veterinary drugs. The Southern Shrimp Alliance’s informal tracking of data released by the FDA indicates that […]

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FDA Expands Import Alert on Chloramphenicol to Cover All Crustaceans, Including Shrimp

FDA Expands Import Alert on Chloramphenicol to Cover All Crustaceans, Including Shrimp   On November 4, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended Import Alert 16-127 to now cover all crustaceans contaminated by chloramphenicol.  Previously, the Import Alert provided for detention without physical examination of crabmeat and no other seafood products.  With the amendment, the Import Alert now […]

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Know Your Supplier (Continued): Antibiotics in Vietnam’s Shrimp Aquaculture and the Limits of Industry Certification

On July 15, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added Ngoc Tri Seafood Joint Stock Company to Import Alert 16-124 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquaculture Seafood Products Due to Unapproved Drugs”) for shrimp products because of chloramphenicol.  The addition of company to the Import Alert followed the FDA’s reporting that seven entry lines of vannamei and black […]

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FDA Adds Two Vietnamese Shrimp Exporters to Import Alert for Antibiotic Contamination

Two Vietnamese shrimp exporters have now been added to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Import Alert regarding aquaculture seafood products contaminated with unapproved drugs (Import Alert 16-124). A previous News Alert Update reported that six shipments of Vietnamese shrimp contaminated with banned antibiotics were refused by FDA in October.  These shipments originated from two different Vietnamese seafood exporters:  […]

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