The Center for Public Integrity

More than 80 percent of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported, and half of it comes from fish farms. Fish farmers use a variety of antibiotics and antifungal drugs to treat bacterial infections, which can be prevalent in farmed fish. But the residues of some of these drugs can cause cancer, allergic reactions and antibiotic resistance in humans. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for screening imported seafood, but it may be missing red flags.

In order to export seafood to the U.S., foreign processors must meet the same safety regulations as domestic producers. FDA inspects some foreign seafood processors each year to ensure compliance, but these inspections only involve reviewing the food safety plans and records to ensure the processors have considered drug residues as a hazard. FDA inspectors do not usually visit fish farms to evaluate drug use or controls. In comparison, the EU reviews the country’s fish farm inspection program, the government food safety structure and actually visits fish farms to ensure seafood products meet safety requirements.

Despite recent country assessments by the FDA, the agency does not have any written operating procedures or criteria to evaluate a country’s regulatory infrastructure, farms or the capabilities of foreign laboratories.The FDA’s sampling program does not test for certain drugs that may be used abroad, but are not approved for consumption in the U.S.

The FDA tests for residues of 16 unapproved drugs but other countries importing from the same locations test for up to 57 drugs, according to a Government Accountability Office report.