Comments on FSIS's proposal to inspect catfish

Consumers Union (CU) welcomes the opportunity to comment on FSIS’s new proposal to require continuous inspection of catfish and catfish products. 


"We are glad that FSIS will mandate inspection of catfish and catfish products. We believe that FSIS is better suited than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure the safety of domestic and imported catfish, as FSIS does a more comprehensive review of food safety systems.
 
"We have concerns about the potential safety of catfish and catfish products being imported into the US, especially from Vietnam, China and Thailand," says the CU. 


Vietnam allows 38 drugs to be used in aquaculture, while the US allows only six. 


"We believe that USDA should define catfish to include all fish in the Order Siluriformes, and not just restrict the definition of catfish to those fish in the family Ictaluridae," it adds.


A stronger food safety review


FDA is supposed to ensure the safety of imported seafood primarily by enforcing Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations. 


However, according to GAO in 2010 FDA visited only five of the 801 fish processing facilities in Vietnam. The foreign inspections FDA does perform usually involve reviewing the processors’ HACCP plans and other records to ensure that the processors have considered drug residues as a hazard and have taken appropriate action.


FDA inspectors do not visit fish farms to evaluate drug use or controls, nor do they evaluate the capability, competence, and quality controls of laboratories used to sample seafood from fish farms to see if the fish farm is using unapproved drugs, because such fish farms are not considered processors and so not covered by HACCP regulations.