For September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that 6 out of the 75 (8.0%) total seafood entry line refusals were of shrimp for reasons related to banned antibiotics.
With three months left to go in 2019, the FDA has now refused a total of 58 entry lines of shrimp for reasons related to veterinary drug residues, exceeding the total annual amount of such refusals in 2018 (53) and 2017 (55).
The six shrimp entry lines refused in September for veterinary drug residues were from two different exporters in India and Vietnam:
· West Coast Frozen Foods Private Limited (India), a company that is not currently listed on Import Alert 16-124 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquaculture Seafood Products Due to Unapproved Drugs”), Import Alert 16-127 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Crustaceans Due to Chloramphenicol”), or Import Alert 16-129 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood Products Due to Nitrofurans”), had five entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues by the Division of Southwest Imports on September 20, 2019; and
· Minh Phu Seafood (Vietnam), a company that is also not currently listed on Import Alert 16-124 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquaculture Seafood Products Due to Unapproved Drugs”), Import Alert 16-127 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Crustaceans Due to Chloramphenicol”), or Import Alert 16-129 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood Products Due to Nitrofurans”), had one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues by the Division of Southeast Imports on September 17, 2019.
The five entry lines of shrimp refused from West Coast Frozen Foods Private Limited brought the total entry lines of shrimp from India refused in 2019 for reasons related to banned antibiotics to thirty-two (32), accounting for 55.2% of all such shrimp refusals this year.
The shrimp entry lines refused from West Coast Frozen Foods Private Limited were also found to have salmonella. In addition to those five entry lines, the FDA also refused another seven entry lines of shrimp because of the presence of salmonella: four from Bangladesh (Bright Seafood Ltd.) by the Division of West Coast Imports; two more from India (Choice Canning Company) by the Division of Northeast Imports; and one from Vietnam (Khanh Sung Co., Ltd.) by the Division of West Coast Imports. The FDA’s Division of West Coast Imports also refused a shrimp entry line from India (Milesh Marine Exports Private Limited) for the presence of listeria.
About the Southern Shrimp Alliance
The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) is an organization of shrimp fishermen, shrimp processors, and other members of the domestic industry in the eight warmwater shrimp producing states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.
