Report: Lapses in FDA Fish Safety

W A S H I N G T O N, Feb. 13 -- Fewer than half of U.S. seafood firms arefollowing Food and Drug Administration safety standards to ensureAmericans don't get bad fish, says a scathing new report bycongressional investigators.

The FDA has made progress in improving seafood safety sinceinstituting strict new regulations in 1997, but large gaps remain,the report says.

Over half of FDA inspections of domestic seafood processorsfound serious violations, yet the government didn't move quickly tomake those companies shape up, the investigators found.

"The potential health risks associated with these violationsare significant," says the report by the General AccountingOffice, Congress' investigative arm.

As for imported seafood, even when FDA inspectors find seriousproblems at foreign seafood plants, the agency doesn'tautomatically stop and examine those companies' products once theyarrive at U.S. ports, the report concluded.

Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., whorequested the investigation, plan hearings this spring to furtherprobe FDA's oversight of seafood safety.

An Outbreak in Waiting

"I would not call an inspection system with little inspectionand virtually no enforcement an inspection system. I'd call it anoutbreak waiting to happen," Harkin said.

FDA food safety officials, many of whom were attending a seafoodindustry-sponsored meeting in Florida on how to improve safety,didn't immediately comment.

But the seafood industry disputed many of the findings, sayingcompanies are working hard to implement the FDA rules and ensuresafer products.

"There's indications that seafood is safer than ever," saidRichard Gutting, president of the National Fisheries Institute,citing preliminary statistics suggesting seafood-associated diseaseoutbreaks have dropped by half since the FDA implemented its safetyrules in 1997. "We remain committed to further improving theprogram."

But consumer advocates said the report shows glaring problemsthat FDA and Congress must act to fix.