Indian shrimp refused US entry by FDA
A total of twenty-seven lines of Indian shrimp were refused entry into the USA by the FDA in 2017 and 2018 according to a recent report. Due to one in every three pounds of shrimp imported to the US comes from India, this is a significant number of refusals that prove that India struggles to control antibiotic dosage in its aquaculture. This has been made worse given the recent criticism India has faced from the European Union over the levels of antibiotics in aquaculture in the last few years.
In January 2019, twenty-six shrimp entry lines were refused into the US. This number is almost half of the total refusal lines for all of 2018 and are equal to the refusal lines for the whole of 2006.
The Indian refusal lines for last month were from two different export companies. Royale Marine Impex Pvt. Ltd. are currently listed on an import alert for the use of nitrofurans since 2018 and have had a combined refusal of twenty-four entry lines of shrimp between 28th and 30th January 2019. The other company is Kaylan Aqua & Marine Exports. It is also listed on an import alert for the use of unapproved drugs and chloramphenicol which resulted in two refusals of shrimp.
Antibiotics in aquaculture are an integral part of the production process. However, large amounts are often refused, as with the case in India to the USA. Randox Food Diagnostics manufacture and supply technology for the screening of a large variety of assays known to be found in aquaculture including nitrofurans and chloramphenicol. Market leading testing through Biochip Array Technology has made RFD one of the leading names in seafood screening solutions. Coupled with a wide variety of ELISA tests and RFD leads the way in food safety. See our full range of aquaculture screening products here.