Two Chinese seafood firms have received warnings from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in regards to problems with hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) controls in their processing plants.
Haikou City, Hainan province, China-based Hainan Golden Spring received a letter dated 4 May, 2022, from the FDA in May warning it to bring its HACCP controls for monitoring drug residues in line with FDA requirements or face potential sanctions, such as detention of its products on arrival at U.S. ports. FDA officers inspected the company’s plant in December 2021.
According to the company’s website, its 24,000-square-meter processing facility has an annual production capacity of 15,000 metric tons. Hainan Golden Spring had export earnings of USD 30 million (EUR 29.5 million), primarily exporting to the United States, Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia, and was recently named a national key leading enterprise by China’s Ministry of Agriculture.
A similar letter of warning was sent 9 May, 2022, to a separate firm, Zhoushan Haichang Food Co., which was also found to be out of compliance with FDA requirements for HACCP controls on the detection of sulfites in its exports of frozen crab. The Shenjiamen, Putuo District, Zhejiang province, China-based company operates a raw and cooked seafood production line at its 2,400-square-meter factory capable of processing eight metric tons of seafood daily.
SeafoodSource contacted both companies for comment but did not receive responses by 7 July, 2022.
The United States is the second-biggest export market for Chinese seafood exports after Japan. China’s exports – seafood included – have been increasing in price over the past year as exporters seek to compensate for tepid domestic demand by renewing focus on overseas markets.
Photo courtesy of chinahbzyg/Shutterstock
