Posted on 04/26/2007 12:57:46 PM PDT by blam
Agriculture Commissioner bans Chinese catfish in Alabama
4/25/2007, 5:34 p.m. CDT
By KATE BRUMBACK
The Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks announced a ban on the sale of catfish from China on Wednesday after antibiotics prohibited in the United States were found in Chinese catfish.
Sparks said 20 samples of catfish from China were collected for testing by the department of agriculture over the last few weeks. Of those samples, 14 tested positive for the antibiotic fluoroquinolones, which the Food and Drug Administration banned from use in food-producing animals in 1997.
"We are sending notice today that we are not going to continue to sit by and let these foreign countries produce their food at a different standard than we ask our farmers to produce by and then send those products in here at a cheaper price," Sparks said.
Agriculture department chemists also tested 13 samples of basa fish from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, with five of the samples testing positive for antibiotics. Sparks said additional testing is required before a decision is made to ban basa fish.
The samples that tested positive represent about 214,260 pounds of fish that will not be sold. About 300,000 pounds of fish also have been suspended pending further analysis.
Lance Hester, the state's food safety director, said the exposure of fish to the banned antibiotics is not accidental. He said the antibiotics are used to kill bacteria in the water.
Sparks said he will not lift the ban on Chinese catfish until he is convinced the problem is solved until there is no evidence the forbidden antibiotics are used.
"It's pretty obvious they haven't heard my message from Alabama," he said. "But some way or other we're going to get this message from Alabama to those foreign countries that if you continue to use chemicals that have been banned by the FDA, when we find it, we're going to stop it. It's that simple."
Sparks said he has already been in touch with people in the fish industry in the state who have purchased contaminated fish. He said the department of agriculture will continue to help them test fish.
"We applaud Ron Sparks for taking this step and it's not an easy step to protect the health and welfare of the state and the citizens of Alabama," said Butch Wilson, chairman of the Alabama Catfish Producers.
Sparks said he also communicates regularly with agricultural commissioners in other southern states, such as Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia, which produce catfish, and he expects they "will be reacting and responding accordingly to their state and their state laws."
The extensive testing is expensive, but Joe Basile, a chemist at the department of agriculture's lab in Montgomery, said the FDA has been involved and is bearing much of the cost.
It is disgraceful all around.
But I wonder.
Was this contaminated food passed on to other companies before the pet food recall, or after? Menu foods sat on their information for TWO WEEKS before they decided to do the recall because Iams was going to go ahead without them. What else are we NOT being told.
Do we have to import EVERYTHING?
Heck..we don't need food poisoning terrorism. We'll do it on our own! All in the name of profit.
Disgraceful!
Democrat, Ron Sparks (He has aspirations on the US Senate seat held by Jeff Sessions...not a chance)
Just got off the phone with Senator’s office.
She didn’t know if he has been doing anything about it at all.
Told her he should being a veterinarian and all.
Told her that a lot of people think things are getting out of control with this whole food situation.
She was checking Dingle’s site to see if their was any Republicans working on this.
She said a lot of times you don’t hear of all they are working on, which is true.
Also told her he should be standing behind other Republicans that are calling for Reid’s resignation.
Also laid a few other things on her to tell him, she was very nice and said she would pass all this on to him.
I said I didn’t really think that one person has much say in anything, but I did write to a lot of sponsors for the View and wrote to Barbara Walters about Rosie and if i had one little bit of persuasion of her getting off there, then it was worth it.
She said they do listen.
Call your Senators.
I left my name and address, she said they like hearing what is going on.
We will see.
Hallelujah!
Yes, he has. He is going to be hard to replace. I think Bishop is a Democrat....not positive.
Good for you!
I agree. Did you see the hurricane/disaster plan he put together? Impressive.
I went to a conference in Decatur AL last fall and Riley was the keynote speaker, and an impressive man.
My sis and BIL live in Decatur, fish all the time and eat all the catfish they catch (lots). Of course, I’m not sure the catfish from the Tennessee River system is not polluted.
Mom4kittys, I can’t believe they import crawfish to Lousiana. What is going on in this country?
I lived in Lake Charles for many years and learned to love crawfish while there.
It’s a shame isn’t it? (imported crawfish in Louisiana)
Riley is being mentioned as a VP possibility. He has a Reganesque way about him too.
Uh huh. The 'bad' producers will launder their seafood through the 'good' producers.
Bernard's is owned by Fu Ling Yu...
Taxes. Drilling bans. No refinery permits for 3 decades...
Besides, the invisible hand of the market will take care of any problems. And it can help bury people in the meantime.
Well I ain’t putin mine back, besides, we already ate em.
Mental note: do not buy any catfish.
Lincoln emancipated the slaves; China hasn't.
FDR's New Deal programs, that China never adopted.
LBJ's Great Society Programs & War on Poverty, that China's producers don't have to pay for.
EPA, FDA, USDA regulations enforcement, that Chinese producers (so far) haven't had to worry about, so haven't.
Anybody else want to add some more?
He’s pro gun ownership, pro hunting, pro common sense about a lot of issues. And, he was warmly received by those at the convention of outdoor, fishing, hunting and shooting writers.
I thought he was a democrat, am I wrong?
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