It Must Have Been the Fish
By George Anderson
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) believes that eating fish may be hazardous to the health of consumers and it wants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to do something about it.
Based on its own assessment, the FDA found that only 57 percent of seafood processors have a functioning hazards control program.
CSPI’s report, Outbreak Alert! 2002, says that seafood is the leading cause of reported foodborne-illness where both the food and hazard are identified. Caroline Smith DeWaal. food safety director, CSPI said, “Mandatory government testing is needed to make a weak seafood-safety program stronger. Seafood is a major cause of food poisoning, sickening more than 100,000 and causing dozens of preventable deaths each year.”
Moderator’s Comment: Is seafood/fish safety primarily
a processor issue? Should retailers support CSPI’s call for mandatory government
testing?