The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has published new data regarding seafood entry refusals in July 2022, and according to the Southern Shrimp Alliance – which tracks the FDA’s data for shrimp – 72 total seafood shipments were refused.
The data indicates that three of the entry line refusals in July were related to antibiotics in shrimp from a single Indian company: M/s. Munnangi Sea Foods. According to the data, all three of the entry lines were contaminated by nitrofurans, and the company has been put on alert status.
The FDA also refused entry of a shipment of shrimp from Vietnam-based Tra Kha Seafood Processing Factory due to the presence of a pesticide, the Southern Shrimp Alliance said.
All told, the FDA refused 14 entries, three for the aforementioned antibiotic, one for the pesticide, and 10 for the presence of salmonella.
Of those refused for salmonella were: Four entry lines from Premium Fish & Agro Industries in Bangladesh, which were also refused for being filthy; one from Ecuador-based Industrial Pesquera Santa Priscila S.A. for salmonella, three from India-based Rizwan Ice and Cold Storage for salmonella and being filthy; one from India-based Accelerated Freeze Drying Co. for salmonella and being filthy; and one from Thailand-based CK Frozen Fish and Food Co. for salmonella and being filthy.
“Through July of this year, the FDA has refused a total of 48 entry lines of shrimp for reasons related to banned antibiotics and remains on track to refuse the largest number of entry lines of shrimp for veterinary drug residues since 2016,” The Southern Shrimp Alliance said.
The total of shrimp refused for antibiotics already exceeds the number of refusals made in the entirety of 2020.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
