On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published detailed data regarding 73 seafood entry line refusals in June, of which ten (13.7%) were of shrimp for reasons related to banned antibiotics.
Through the first half of this year, the FDA has refused a total of twenty-eight entry lines of shrimp for banned antibiotics, less than half of the agency’s refusals last year.
The ten entry lines of shrimp refused for banned antibiotics in June were for shipments from Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese shrimp exporters:
- Zhangzhou Hongwei Foods Co., Ltd. (China), a company that is not on the green list of Import Alert 16-131 (“Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquacultured, Shrimp, Dace, and Eel from China – Presence of New Animal Drugs and/or Unsafe Food Additives”), had six entry lines refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues and unsafe additives by the Division of West Coast Imports on June 10, 2023;
- Calcutta Seafoods Pvt. Ltd. (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 one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on June 8, 2023;
- Mega Marine Pride (Indonesia), 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 one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on June 15, 2023;
- Hung Bang Co. Ltd. (Vietnam), 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 one entry line refused for breaded shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans by the Division of Southeast Imports on June 12, 2023; and
- Stapimex (Vietnam), 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 one entry line refused for shrimp contaminated with nitrofurans and veterinary drug residues by the Division of West Coast Imports on June 13, 2023.
At least one entry line of Indian-origin shrimp has been refused by the FDA for reasons related to veterinary drug residues in each of the last eight months. On the other hand, the FDA’s refusal of Indonesian-origin shrimp was the first for veterinary drug residues since October 2018.
In addition, the FDA reported the refusal of another twelve (12) entry lines of shrimp for the presence of salmonella and/or filth in June from four different shrimp exporters and an additional refusal in May from another exporter, including one entry line from the Philippines’ Amor Nino International trading Inc. (salmonella, May 31); two entry lines of shrimp from Bangladesh’s Rosemco Foods Ltd. (filthy); seven entry lines of shrimp from Indonesia’s PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (filthy and/or salmonella); one entry line of shrimp from Indonesia’s Grahamakmur Ciptapratama (filthy); and one entry line of shrimp from Indonesia’s Mega Marine Pride (filthy).