The United States’ refusal of shrimp imports due to banned antibiotics hit its highest level in a year.
In May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration refused eight shrimp import entries because of banned antibiotics, the highest monthly total since April, 2017, according to the Southern Shrimp Alliance. In total, 111 seafood entry lines were refused.
“For the year, the FDA has now reported refusing a total of 20 entry lines of shrimp for reasons related to veterinary drug residues,” SSA said in a press release.
For the first time this year, the FDA did not refuse shrimp for reasons related to salmonella. From January through April, 2018, the agency refused 46 entry lines of shrimp for salmonella.
The shrimp import refusals in May due to banned antibiotics included shipments from the following companies: Zhanjiang Longwei Aquatic Products Industry Co., Ltd. in China, Savvy Seafood Inc. in China, Lee Fung Marine Products Trading Co. (Hong Kong), Edhayam Frozen Foods Pvt. Ltd. (India), Freshly Frozen Foods (United Arab Emirates), and Winful Seafood International Ltd. (Canada).
