Dear FIQC,
Here is some background –
In the USA, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act authorizes FDA to detain a regulated item that appears to be out of compliance with the act (FDA, 2002). This covers a vast range of commodities: foods, beverages, drugs, cosmetics, animal feed, chemicals, orthopaedic equipment etc. Each month, the import refusal report (IRR) is published based on data generated by the FDA's Operational and Administrative Import Support (OASIS). The data are available by country or by product commodity. Approximately 1/10 of the refused products are seafood products (Table 4.6).
The most common reason for import refusal is "filthy" which describes that the product appears to consist in whole or in part of a filthy, putrid or decomposed substance. Although details are not given for the individual products, it is assumed that microbial spoilage is the major reason for the refusal. Second in terms of rejection reason is the detection of Salmonella. Both cooked, ready-to-eat products and raw, frozen products are rejected if Salmonella is detected. Although Salmonella has its niche in the gastrointestinal tract of birds and mammals, it is a common bacterium in ponds in tropical areas and its detection may not indicate hygienic failure. Whether or not the detection in raw foods constitute a health hazard is debatable.
The category "other" covers a vast range of different reasons such as mis-labelling, lack of description of the process, or lack of verification of a HACCP plan.
(this link is bit old so some dates may hv changed –
http://www.fao.org/d...3e/y4743e06.htm )
Here is a more up-to-date survey of seafood business into USA. I have extracted a chunk-
Import Inspections at the Border
FDA relies primarily on document inspection for food safety oversight. To a lesser extent, it uses three different types of physical inspections: sensory examination, laboratory inspection, and label examination.
The types of inspection are defined below.
Review paperwork submitted by the producer to ensure it contains the health and veterinary checks and other processing information.
Microscopically test for chemicals, antibiotics, contaminants, and filth in a sample of a seafood product.
Examine color, texture, and odor of a sample of seafood product to indicate if it has decomposed.
Samples of frozen products are thawed before the examination.
Inspect the imported product packaging to ensure it conveys all the required nutritional
and content information in English.
Top Reasons For Refusal
Filth was the leading reason for the refusal of imported seafood products, accounting for between 25 percent and 30 percent of refusals each year.
As evident in Figure 13, filth was the most common reason that FDA refused seafood shipments. Although filth does include dirt, insect fragments, rodent hair, and other foreign material, as one might expect, this classification also covers decomposed seafood. Improper handling or refrigeration en route can cause fish to decompose, which U.S. border inspectors detect using sensory examinations. Laboratory inspections can also detect elements of filth.
seafoodJuly2007.pdf 1.52MB
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Rgds / Charles.C
added - there is a lot more info on the FDA website which can be searched here -
http://www.fda.gov/search.html
