UK seeks withdrawal of Asian shrimps
UK seeks withdrawal of Asian shrimps
Reuters, London
Britain's Food Standards Agency (FSA) called on Friday for some prawns and shrimps from Asia to be withdrawn from shop shelves, in a widening European campaign against products containing banned chemicals.
The FSA said tests on warm-water prawns and shrimps from Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh revealed that 16 out of the 77 samples found unacceptable levels of a banned antibiotic, nitrofuran.
The chemical is banned from use in the European Union in food- producing animals because of the risk of causing cancer in humans.
"Given the possible risk, the Agency is advising against the consumption of these particular batches of shrimps and prawns. It is also calling for them to be withdrawn and recalled from sale," the FSA said in a statement.
The agency, which said it had alerted the European Commission to its findings, added that its advice did not concern cold-water prawns and shrimp products commonly used in the UK.
The companies involved had been advised of the results and were cooperating.
Earlier on Friday, the Thai government said the Netherlands had found nitrofuran in shipments of Thai shrimps.
Thailand said it had banned for some years the use of nitrofurans in food-producing animals and would strictly enforce its existing laws.
The European Union in January banned imports of shrimps and some other products from China after finding traces of another banned antibiotic, chloramphenicol, which can cause anemia in humans.
The FSA said on Friday the European Commission had agreed to consider its test results on an EU-wide basis to prevent further contaminated food entering the 15-nation bloc.
The FSA also said illegal residues of chloramphenicol were found in samples from China of Royal Jelly, at similar levels to those recently found in honey.
The British food watchdog said it would not advise against consumption of Royal Jelly because its scientific advisers said that any risk to the public was very low, but it called for the withdrawal of some Royal Jelly products from China, unless they meet legal requirements.