In comments filed yesterday with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Southern Shrimp Alliance expressed strong support for the findings made in the Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (“Scientific Report”).
In particular, the Scientific Report modified the conclusions reached by prior Advisory Committees by adding “higher intakes of . . . seafood” and by emphasizing the consumption of “vegetables, fruits, legumes (beans, peas, lentils), whole grains, nuts, and fish/seafood” as these were “common components found in dietary pattern that were associated with more desirable health outcomes.” The Scientific Report explained that “[s]ystematic review evidence consistently indicated that dietary patterns higher in red and processed meats were related to negative health consequences, while higher intakes of fish and seafood were related to beneficial health outcomes.” Reviewing academic studies, the Advisory Committee observed that diets with higher intakes of seafood, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fruits, and vegetables “were associated favorably with health outcomes, such as lower risks of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, age-related cognitive decline, and colorectal and breast cancer.”
While praising the positive health effects of seafood consumption, the Scientific Report also detailed how seafood is underconsumed by Americans. Reviewing the scientific literature, the Advisory Committee found that, at most, just one in five adults in America consumed seafood at or above recommended levels. The Scientific Report explained that for Americans aged at least 1 year and older, “89 percent have intakes below the weekly recommendations . . .”
Commenting on the Advisory Committee’s Scientific Report, the Southern Shrimp Alliance argued that the federal government’s failure to address the continued abuse of banned veterinary drugs in foreign aquaculture has led Americans to distrust and turn away from seafood products. Citing the significant decline in demand for imported shrimp over the last three years and the substantial drop in demand for imported tilapia over the last decade, the Southern Shrimp Alliance’s comments highlighted efforts by private retailers to assure customers that the seafood they offer for sale was free of antibiotics, as well as laws enacted or being actively considered by state governments to ensure that its citizens are aware of the risks presented by foreign farmed seafood.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance’s comments explained that the failure to meaningfully respond to specific foreign aquaculture industries that have a demonstrated history of prevalent use of banned antibiotics has pushed those countries that have cleaned up their aquaculture industries out of our market. As noted in the comments, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has clear, effective tools available through which to address the recurring problems seen in the Indian and Vietnamese shrimp industries but has, to date, refused to use them. This failure to act has harmed Americans’ impressions of seafood generally.
Accordingly, the Southern Shrimp Alliance requested that the Advisory Committee and the Dietary Guidelines take American consumers’ concerns regarding the prevalence of banned antibiotics in certain seafood seriously and, as done with certain other contaminants, provide recommendations as to examples of seafood that present lower risks or no risk of veterinary drug residues, including domestic, wild-caught shrimp.
“The Scientific Report is clear: to make America healthy again, Americans should be consuming more seafood,” said John Williams, the executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “The failure of our government to remove antibiotic-contaminated foreign farmed seafood from our market has done egregious harm to all seafood producers and reduced Americans’ appetite for shrimp and fish. The status quo is no longer acceptable. The domestic shrimp industry calls upon our federal government to immediately take action to ensure the safety of American consumers and encourage increased consumption of healthy food.”
Review the Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee here: https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/2025-advisory-committee-report
Read the Southern Shrimp Alliance’s February 10, 2025 comments on the Scientific Report here: https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/SSA-Comments-on-Scientific-Report-of-the-2025-Dietary-Guideline-Advisory-Committee.pdf