Chile’s booming salmon industry has come under the scan of US FDA as the team has decided to visit five specific sites and will be testing for Malachite Green, a fungicide thought to be carcinogenic, as well as four different kinds of Flouroquinolones (antibiotics). The FDA team has planned to test the Chilean salmon for Crystal Violet, also a fungicide.
According to the New York Times Chilean salmon industry has overused the antibiotics which raised alarm. As a result Safeway, one of the largest food retailers in the United States, went public with a decision to reduce purchases of Chilean salmon. The Patagonia Times revealed that the visit of FDA team is to assess Chile’s overall controls of chemotherapeutic residues in aquacultured products exported to the United States.
On the other hand the US-based Pew Environment Group, said that neither the FDA nor the Chilean government have been sufficiently open sharing the information about testing and chemical use in Chilean salmon farming. Andrea Kavanagh, head of the Pew Environment Group’s marine aquaculture campaign, opined that the public needs to know what type of tests the Chilean government and its national fisheries service, SERNAPESCA, conduct on farmed salmon and how many samples of Chilean farmed salmon are tested annually.
Commenting on this the Chilean salmon producers said that they welcome this week’s FDA visit as a chance to clear their good name. According to them the visit of FDA is the best news as they trust the FDA and they agree to cooperate fully.
