Monday, January 21, 2008PENSIVE
Business Toolbox: Product quality
China says its seafood quality improving
BEIJING — The Chinese agriculture ministry said a recent crackdown on the use of illegal veterinary drugs had significantly improved the quality and safety of the country’s seafood production.
Regulators said that in the last year, more than 30,000 inspectors had fanned out across the country, working to close shoddy seafood operations and enforce regulations against the use of banned antibiotics — like chloramphenicol and like malachite green, which has caused cancer in laboratory tests.
And in an unusual public acknowledgment, officials from the ministry’s fisheries bureau said that pollution and water-quality problems had become the biggest challenges facing China’s fish farming, or aquaculture industry.
“Water quality is the top issue for Chinese aquaculture,” Ding Xiaoming, the director for aquaculture in the fisheries bureau, said. “Without good water quality, Chinese aquaculture cannot develop.”
In a 30-minute interview at the agriculture ministry, Mr. Ding blamed China’s rapid urbanization and industrialization for polluting waterways that are used by fish farms, a situation that experts say forces some farmers to turn to illegal drugs to protect their fish stocks from disease. – New York Times
Business Toolbox: Dining afloat
Celebrity chef takes his show to the ocean
NEW YORK — Celebrity chef Todd English, whose food is served on airplanes and cruise ships and in hotels, says his name struck a positive chord with Queen Elizabeth II.
English met the queen at the 2004 christening of the Queen Mary 2 in Southampton, England. English has restaurants that bear his name on board the QM2 and also on Cunard's newest ship, the Queen Victoria.
"She's very cute,” English recalled of his meeting with the queen. "She's a nice little old lady. When we met, she said, ‘Oh Todd English! I like your name.'”
English reminisced about the queen while greeting visitors to his restaurant aboard the Queen Victoria while it made a port call in New York City Jan. on 13.
"I'm here to tweak things,” he said.
English said he strives to make dining at his restaurants at sea "an experience like you're walking down the streets of Manhattan and you happen across a restaurant.” His shipboard eateries offer everything from tapas at the bar and other light fare to five-course meals. He said seafood offerings vary in part depending on the ships' itineraries and what's available in port — for examples, Dover sole in England; snapper and grouper in Florida.
He also said he insists on bringing his own music into the restaurants at sea. "We give them CDs we've burned — jazzy, clubby jazzy music.”
English's 19 restaurants include Bluezoo at the Disney World Dolphin Resort, and Olives, with locations in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen, Colo., and the W Hotel at Union Square in New York City, among others. He also created an in-flight menu for Delta Air Lines, with items that sell for $4-$9.
The Queen Victoria ship was in New York for a historic rendezvous with Cunard's other Queen ships, the Queen Elizabeth 2 and the Queen Mary 2. Thousands of New Yorkers stood along the waterfront of Lower Manhattan to watch the three grand ships line up in front of the Statue of Liberty amid fireworks.
The Queen Victoria is on its maiden world cruise, sailing in tandem with the QE2, which is on its 26th and final world cruise. The QE2 will be retired from service later this year and turned into a floating five-star hotel in Dubai. – USA Today
Business Toolbox: Retail trend
Grocery supermarkets must grow or die?
LANCASTER COUNTY,PA - Standing in the parking lot of the Stauffers of Kissel Hill on Rohrerstown Road Friday morning, Scott Bowers of Mountville looked thoughtful when asked what he thought about the massive remodeling project unfolding all around him.
Or maybe he just couldn't hear.
To his right, a backhoe was tearing up pavement; another yellow metallic behemoth pounded away, crushing rock. "It'll be nice," he said over the din of the expansion, which will transform the modest grocery store into a huge supermarket. "But I go where things are on sale."
Pushing a cart inside the store, Dave Hepler of Lancaster agreed that bigger isn't always better. "I like a smaller store," he said. "It's easier to find things."
Not to worry, said Paul Stauffer, company president. The Rohrerstown store will retain all the things loyal customers like about the local chain. "It will be the full Stauffers of Kissel Hill shopping experience in Rohrerstown," he said.
And then some.
Once completed next fall, the new SKH on Rohrerstown Road will feature a bistro with indoor and patio seating, a bank branch, catering service and more. The garden center, now connected to the rest of the store, will have its own, separate, massive space. The supermarket will total more than 78,000 square feet — making it the biggest Stauffers, and the biggest supermarket, in Lancaster County.
But the bulldozers are also roaring at Stone Mill Plaza on Columbia Avenue, less than two miles away. Soon, the eastern side of that strip mall will be toppled and the Giant grocery store expanded, to about 79,000 square feet — making that store the biggest supermarket in Lancaster County.
For how long is anyone's guess.
As Lancaster County has changed, its supermarkets have mostly stayed the same. While new, glitzy markets get built in rapidly growing suburbs, most people near the county's urban core shop in older grocery stores that haven't been state-of-the-art for a decade or more.
That's changing, as expansions at Stauffers, Giant and the Weis Market in Manor Shopping Center will add a total of 81,000 square feet of new retail space between them that may out-glitz newer markets in newer communities.
That the two largest supermarkets in Lancaster County will be built in such close proximity is, say all involved, a mere coincidence. Still, several factors make this corner of the county ideal. Some 20 percent of the county's population lives within a five-mile radius; the stores draw not just from the city but from Lancaster Township and the southeastern corner of East Hempfield Township, Manor Township, even Millersville.
Business Toolbox: Sustainability
Fish oil pills depleting sea of fish?
Not many people give thought to menhaden, the little oily Atlantic fish that spawns in coastal estuaries.
But a lot depends on the great schools of menhaden – the livelihood of commercial fishermen and the sport of recreational anglers, as two examples, since some of their favorite fish, like striped bas, feed on menhaden.
But most people come into contact with menhaden in the aisle of health supplements. There, it is packaged in the form of Omega Protein pills, the tablets full of Omega-3 fatty acids, a fact that Mother Jones exposed in a 2006 investigation. (The oil also ends up in a variety of surprising consumer products, from cosmetics to linoleum.)
Now, states on the Chesapeake Bay are fighting over what to do about menhaden, given that their numbers have dropped so low that striped bass may not be eating enough to maintain strength against disease, according to an Op-Ed in the Virginian-Pilot.
Only Virginia and North Carolina allow fishing for menhaden, which are unfortunately not alone among fish in peril. River herring, another little oily fish, and their cousins the American shad, are in steep declines coastwide, also likely due to overfishing.
There's a sustainable amount of fish that can be taken from a river, estuary or ocean, but once that limit is exceeded it can take a disproportionately long time for the fish to recover. Most fish are depleted before scientists have even documented it, and decades pass before the fish can be sustainably caught again. – Daily Green
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Business Toolbox: Good deeds
Governor serves crab cakes to flood victims
Gov. Chris Gregoire served up some Atlantic Ocean bounty to flood survivors on Friday at the Baw Faw Grange in Boistfort. She won 120 crab cakes in a bet two weeks ago with Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley after her Seattle Seahawks outplayed the Washington Redskins 35-14.
Although the stakes were originally much lower -- a box of about a dozen crab cakes against a box of Washington apples -- Gregoire said she would need a little more to share with disaster victims in her state, and O'Malley obliged.
"I explained what a tragedy had happened here," Gregoire told the crowd of 150 people. "And the governor was happy to send more."
The hockey puck-sized cakes were flown into Washington overnight from Maryland and the United Way volunteers who cooked them said they were top of the line. Gregoire said it was the least she could do for a community that seems like it could be so beaten down, but remains intact, and perhaps stronger.
Locals concurred.
"These are the people you're talking about, pulling themselves up by their bootstraps," said Keith Gastfield, a volunteer from Centralia. "This is unlike anything we've seen in 50 years. This kind of attitude -- this is how this county used to be."
Some felt humbled in the presence of the governor.
"She's down here visiting the little people," said Stephanie Roberts, whose parents live in Curtis. "We're just little people in a tiny community." – The Oregonian
New service offers sustainability tips on cell phones
There’s a new mobile phone service available to people who want to eat only fish caught in an environmentally sustainable way.
Whether in a restaurant, at the fishmonger or in the sushi bar, consumers in 17 countries can now quickly look up the latest consumption recommendations for over 4,000 sea foods, simply by visiting www.seafoodguide.mobi on an internet-enabled mobile phone.
The International Seafood Guide for mobile phones, developed by researchers in the European Union project INCOFISH, compiles all available seafood advisories and allows consumers to access them through an easy-to-use mobile phone interface.
With just a few clicks, users can get advice on whether a certain seafood can be enjoyed without jeopardizing its future as a food source or harming the environment. Clicking on the ruler icon will alert users to the smallest acceptable size for the seafood (whole, headless, or fillet) to be respected in order to assure the fish was not caught before it could spawn.
For centuries people have used ocean resources as if they were endless. Small-scale traditional fishing has transformed into an industry with gigantic factory vessels replacing small fishing boats. Global fishing fleets have also been improving fish-finding and capture technology, ever-increasing their capacity to track down the last schools of fish in the far reaches of the ocean.
Atlantic Cod and other species which have helped build cultures in the past are now severely threatened, as are the livelihoods of fishers around the world. Marine researchers have been documenting the trend of over fishing for years. Their advice to moderate resource use has been falling on deaf ears, as governments continue setting catch quotas well above sustainable levels and condoning damaging fishing practices. With the International Seafood Guide for mobile phones, consumers can now easily circumvent this lack of political will for change by raising their voices and voting with their wallets.
Business Toolbox: Aquaculture
Deep sea fish farm faces opposition in Hawaii
KAILUA, KONA, Hawaii — A Kona open ocean fish farm is facing opposition as it seeks to double its capacity.
The company says its fish are raised without significant environmental impact and as a source of Omega-3 fatty acids with no detectable mercury or other contaminants.
Opponents say the giant underwater operation goes against Native Hawaiian traditions and will harm the ocean environment around it.
Kona Blue Water Farms LLC has applied for permits to increase the size of its eight submersible net pens off Unualoha Point to help meet the growing demand for fish as wild stocks are being depleted.
The aquaculture company, which has 38 employees in its Kona hatchery operation, currently raises Kona Kampachi, the trademarked name for its cultivated kahala, a native fish also known as Hawaiian yellowtail or amberjack.
The company, with administrative offices in San Francisco, has applied for use of an additional 13 acres in a conservation district which is managed by the state Land Division. The move would increase the operation's total lease area to 103 acres near Keahole Point, said Neil Sims, Kona Blue president and co-founder.
Its submersible pens would increase in size, from 2,800 and 3,200 cubic meters to slightly more than 6,200 cubic meters. – Honolulu Advertiser
Business Toolbox: Aquaculture
Business Toolbox: Aquaculture
Gulf of Mexico fishery managers can not legally move forward on a plan to allow development of large scale fish farms in the region, says Food & Water Watch (FWW).
According to public comments by the consumer advocacy group, the law does not allow businesses to sanction such developments - which FWW deems “risky.”
Federal fish managers, tired of waiting for a comprehensive national policy to be approved by Congress, opted to try setting up fish farms through regional fishery management processes. The Gulf of Mexico is the first location to develop regulations for an ocean fish farming industry in federal waters. National Marine Fisheries Service staff have stated that other regional councils are expected to follow with similar plans if the Gulf plan goes through. – The Fish Site
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Business Toolbox: Good deeds
Governor serves crab cakes to flood victims
Gov. Chris Gregoire served up some Atlantic Ocean bounty to flood survivors on Friday at the Baw Faw Grange in Boistfort. She won 120 crab cakes in a bet two weeks ago with Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley after her Seattle Seahawks outplayed the Washington Redskins 35-14.
Although the stakes were originally much lower -- a box of about a dozen crab cakes against a box of Washington apples -- Gregoire said she would need a little more to share with disaster victims in her state, and O'Malley obliged.
"I explained what a tragedy had happened here," Gregoire told the crowd of 150 people. "And the governor was happy to send more."
The hockey puck-sized cakes were flown into Washington overnight from Maryland and the United Way volunteers who cooked them said they were top of the line. Gregoire said it was the least she could do for a community that seems like it could be so beaten down, but remains intact, and perhaps stronger.
Locals concurred.
"These are the people you're talking about, pulling themselves up by their bootstraps," said Keith Gastfield, a volunteer from Centralia. "This is unlike anything we've seen in 50 years. This kind of attitude -- this is how this county used to be."
Some felt humbled in the presence of the governor.
"She's down here visiting the little people," said Stephanie Roberts, whose parents live in Curtis. "We're just little people in a tiny community." – The Oregonian
Business Toolbox: Selling sustainability
New service offers sustainability tips on cell phones
There’s a new mobile phone service available to people who want to eat only fish caught in an environmentally sustainable way.
Whether in a restaurant, at the fishmonger or in the sushi bar, consumers in 17 countries can now quickly look up the latest consumption recommendations for over 4,000 sea foods, simply by visiting www.seafoodguide.mobi on an internet-enabled mobile phone.
The International Seafood Guide for mobile phones, developed by researchers in the European Union project INCOFISH, compiles all available seafood advisories and allows consumers to access them through an easy-to-use mobile phone interface.
With just a few clicks, users can get advice on whether a certain seafood can be enjoyed without jeopardizing its future as a food source or harming the environment. Clicking on the ruler icon will alert users to the smallest acceptable size for the seafood (whole, headless, or fillet) to be respected in order to assure the fish was not caught before it could spawn.
For centuries people have used ocean resources as if they were endless. Small-scale traditional fishing has transformed into an industry with gigantic factory vessels replacing small fishing boats. Global fishing fleets have also been improving fish-finding and capture technology, ever-increasing their capacity to track down the last schools of fish in the far reaches of the ocean.
Atlantic Cod and other species which have helped build cultures in the past are now severely threatened, as are the livelihoods of fishers around the world. Marine researchers have been documenting the trend of over fishing for years. Their advice to moderate resource use has been falling on deaf ears, as governments continue setting catch quotas well above sustainable levels and condoning damaging fishing practices. With the International Seafood Guide for mobile phones, consumers can now easily circumvent this lack of political will for change by raising their voices and voting with their wallets.
Business Toolbox: Aquaculture
Deep sea fish farm faces opposition in Hawaii
KAILUA, KONA, Hawaii — A Kona open ocean fish farm is facing opposition as it seeks to double its capacity.
The company says its fish are raised without significant environmental impact and as a source of Omega-3 fatty acids with no detectable mercury or other contaminants.
Opponents say the giant underwater operation goes against Native Hawaiian traditions and will harm the ocean environment around it.
Kona Blue Water Farms LLC has applied for permits to increase the size of its eight submersible net pens off Unualoha Point to help meet the growing demand for fish as wild stocks are being depleted.
The aquaculture company, which has 38 employees in its Kona hatchery operation, currently raises Kona Kampachi, the trademarked name for its cultivated kahala, a native fish also known as Hawaiian yellowtail or amberjack.
The company, with administrative offices in San Francisco, has applied for use of an additional 13 acres in a conservation district which is managed by the state Land Division. The move would increase the operation's total lease area to 103 acres near Keahole Point, said Neil Sims, Kona Blue president and co-founder.
Its submersible pens would increase in size, from 2,800 and 3,200 cubic meters to slightly more than 6,200 cubic meters. – Honolulu Advertiser
Business Toolbox: Aquaculture
Business Toolbox: Aquaculture
Gulf of Mexico fishery managers can not legally move forward on a plan to allow development of large scale fish farms in the region, says Food & Water Watch (FWW).
According to public comments by the consumer advocacy group, the law does not allow businesses to sanction such developments - which FWW deems “risky.”
Federal fish managers, tired of waiting for a comprehensive national policy to be approved by Congress, opted to try setting up fish farms through regional fishery management processes. The Gulf of Mexico is the first location to develop regulations for an ocean fish farming industry in federal waters. National Marine Fisheries Service staff have stated that other regional councils are expected to follow with similar plans if the Gulf plan goes through. – The Fish Site
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Business Toolbox: Your customers’ health
NYC sushi tuna produces high mercury counts
Recent laboratory tests found so much mercury in tuna sushi from 20 Manhattan stores and restaurants that at most of them, a regular diet of six pieces a week would exceed the levels considered acceptable by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Sushi from five of the 20 places had mercury levels so high that the Food and Drug Administration could take legal action to remove the fish from the market. The sushi was bought by The New York Times in October.
“No one should eat a meal of tuna with mercury levels like those found in the restaurant samples more than about once every three weeks," said Dr. Michael Gochfeld, professor of environmental and occupational medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, N.J.
Dr. Gochfeld analyzed the sushi for The Times with Dr. Joanna Burger, professor of life sciences at Rutgers University. He is a former chairman of the New Jersey Mercury Task Force and also treats patients with mercury poisoning.
The owner of a restaurant whose tuna sushi had particularly high mercury concentrations said he was shocked by the findings. “I’m startled by this,” said the owner, Drew Nieporent, a managing partner of Nobu Next Door. “Anything that might endanger any customer of ours, we’d be inclined to take off the menu immediately and get to the bottom of it.”
Although the samples were gathered in New York City, experts believe similar results would be observed elsewhere.
“Mercury levels in bluefin are likely to be very high regardless of location,” said Tim Fitzgerald, a marine scientist for Environmental Defense, an advocacy group that works to protect the environment and improve human health.
Most of the restaurants in the survey said the tuna The Times had sampled was bluefin.
In 2004 the Food and Drug Administration joined with the Environmental Protection Agency to warn women who might become pregnant and children to limit their consumption of certain varieties of canned tuna because the mercury it contained might damage the developing nervous system. Fresh tuna was not included in the advisory. Most of the tuna sushi in the Times samples contained far more mercury than is typically found in canned tuna.
Over the past several years, studies have suggested that mercury may also cause health problems for adults, including an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and neurological symptoms.
Dr. P. Michael Bolger, a toxicologist who is head of the chemical hazard assessment team at the Food and Drug Administration, did not comment on the findings in the Times sample but said the agency was reviewing its seafood mercury warnings. Because it has been four years since the advisory was issued, Dr. Bolger said, “we have had a study under way to take a fresh look at it.”
No government agency regularly tests seafood for mercury. --New York Time
Business Toolbox: Up and coming
Simple salmon presentation wins award
A humble dish swung a Tongue Point Job Corps student into the spotlight last week, when "Simple Salmon Sauerwein" won first place in a seafood-cooking contest at the Northwest Food Processors Association 2008 trade show.
The dish's namesake, 23-year-old Charity Sauerwein, dressed up the unassuming fillet with a lemon-cream sauce, perching it on a bed of portobello-mushroom risotto for the competition. But the Job Corps student's original recipe aims to honor the natural flavor and texture of her -- and her grandfather's -- favorite fish. As the name implies, the dish requires few ingredients: The fillet gets only a quick dusting of flour before it is sautéed.
"It's inspired by my grandpa," Sauerwein said. "He and I have a real passion for salmon, it's one of our favorite seafoods. But every time we go to a restaurant and order salmon, it's always way dressed up. We made this recipe because salmon is such a beautiful fish by itself. It doesn't need a whole lot; it's simple salmon." – Daily Astorian, Oregon
Business Toolbox: Far-flung grazing
Going green with pizza
Pizza lovers in central Ohio could be eating green by the end of this year, if all goes as planned for a small outfit in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Pizza Fusion's founders, Vaughan Lazar and Michael Gordon, have begun parlaying their handful of Earth-friendly restaurants in Florida into a nationwide franchised operation.
A franchisee based in Pennsylvania owns development rights in an area that includes central Ohio and will begin opening restaurants in March, starting with a suburban Pittsburgh unit. Plans call for a central Ohio restaurant by the end of the year, although a location has not been announced.
Enter Pizza Fusion, whose company motto is "Saving the Earth, one pizza at a time."
How does the chain differ from those that buy a few organic veggies and use Earth-friendly light bulbs?
"We use 100 percent recycled bluejeans for wall insulation," Gordon said. "We recycle hot air from the ovens in a heat exchanger to heat the water. All appliances are certified by Energy Star. Our air-conditioning units are 30 percent more efficient than conventional. We install only low-flow toilets and low-flow wash sinks in the restrooms. We use recycled and soy materials. All our lighting is from (compact fluorescent lights). Our sinks are made of bamboo, a renewable resource. The ceiling tiles are 70 percent recycled material. All bags and boxes are recycled. All plasticware is biodegradable."
He paused to take a breath, and he hadn't even gotten to discussing the food.
The menu, Gordon said, is 75 percent organic food, and as much as possible is acquired from farmers near each store.
Pizza Fusion sells pizzas, focaccia sandwiches, wraps and salads.
Pizzas can be customized with toppings such as artichokes and wild-caught shrimp, but the favorite menu item is Bill's Pizza. It features organic New York strip steak; tomato sauce; mozzarella, aged Parmesan and Gorgonzola cheeses; red, yellow and green peppers; oregano; and red onions.
Prices outside Florida haven't been determined, but in Fort Lauderdale, a large Bill's costs about $30. – Columbus Dispatch
Business Toolbox: A crab primer
What you need to know about Dungeness
The sweetest of all crabs, Dungeness come from coastal Pacific waters stretching from Alaska to Monterey Bay.
The Dungeness crab gets its name from the town of Dungeness -- located near Sequim, Wash., home to the oldest commercial shellfish fishery on the Pacific Coast -- where Dungeness crab were first commercially harvested in 1848.
According to the Environmental Defense Oceans program, "only adult males are taken in this fishery, which uses pots and traps made of biodegradable webs ... Pots and traps are also equipped with built-in exits that allow escape of undersize crabs. Only mature male crabs can be fished during the season, while female and undersized male crabs are returned to the water."
Dungeness crab often bury themselves almost completely in sand for protection. Hairs located around the water intakes at the base of their claws keep their gill chambers free of sand grains. When moving about on the sea bottom, crab find and capture their prey -- mainly animals living partly or completely buried -- by probing into the sand with their legs or claws.
While people usually associate sideways movement with crab, they can actually move in any direction. When necessary, Dungeness crab can also move quite quickly -- fast enough to tire a pursuing scuba diver, experienced divers readily admit.
Dungeness crab has a much higher meat yield than blue crab. When you buy Dungeness crab live, look for an active one; otherwise, look for whole cooked crabs without shell cracks, as well as lumped or picked meat.
Today, Dungeness crab is known around the world for its wonderful texture, its buttery flavor and its relative rarity.
Cracked crab is a favorite with crab lovers this time of year. Served with a little butter, salad and some crusty French bread, it's a hearty meal in itself. Or you could offer some cracked crab, or even picked lump meat, along with a plate of marinara-sauced pasta, popular at crab feeds during winter months throughout wine country. - Napa Valley Register
Friday, January 25, 2008
Business Toolbox: Your customers’ health
Japanese: Sushi is not dangerous
TOKYO — Japanese officials and experts said Thursday they had little concern about the nation's passion for tuna after revelations in New York of dangerous mercury levels.
The New York Times said Wednesday that laboratory tests conducted for the newspaper showed that eight of 44 sushi pieces bought in the city had mercury levels above the legal limit.
Amid a global craze for Japanese food, the newspaper warned that "a regular diet of even two or three pieces a week at some restaurants could be a health hazard for the average adult," based on US environmental guidelines.
But Japan, which eats a quarter of the world's tuna, said it does not plan to review advice to the public.
Japan's health ministry only advises that women believed to be pregnant limit bluefin tuna consumption to 80 grams (2.8 ounces), or about five pieces of tuna sushi, per week.
"We encourage pregnant women to limit the amount of tuna they eat, but it should not be a problem for the average adult to eat tuna so long as it's a sensible amount," a health ministry official said on customary condition of anonymity. "We will go with the standard for now."
The New York Times reported some tuna samples had mercury in excess of one part per million, the level for the US Food and Drug Administration to take action on the market.
According to the Japanese Fisheries Agency, which conducted research on mercury levels of fish in 2004, an average 0.68 ppm of mercury was detected after testing 60 samples of naturally grown and 30 farm-raised bluefin tuna.
"Mercury concentrations differ in various part of tuna meat," noted Junichi Kowaka, director of the Japan Offspring Fund, a non-governmental consumer group.
For example, the red meat of tuna tends to contain less mercury than the more fatty "toro" part, which is more expensive and popular among sushi lovers.
Kowaka, who described himself as usually critical of the Japanese government's food safety standards, was calm.
"It would be different if we saw damage to consumers, but there haven't been any reports on disorders due to tuna consumption," he said.
"Considering that Japanese people's diet heavily relies on fish, I have to say the safety standard is still appropriate," he said. "At least I'd eat tuna if I have sushi for dinner tonight." – AFP
Business Toolbox: Product safety
Fish farmers can’t explain toxin
Canadian aquaculture companies are still baffled as to how their salmon ended up testing positive for the potentially carcinogenic chemical malachite green, but say new U.S. testing procedures may be the reason.
On Dec. 4, the United States Food and Drug Administration pulled over two different trucks, each containing salmon from different aquaculture companies. In both instances, the sampled fish tested positive for the presence of malachite green, and since then, both Creative Salmon Co. and Marine Harvest Canada have gone on record saying they absolutely do not use the chemical.
"Creative Salmon grow chinook salmon in Tofino that go through a different plant and use different truckers than us, and our fish came from Port McNeill through our plant in Port Hardy. The first place they came together was as the border," said Clair Bachman.
"For both of us, who are very sensitized to this product, having it show up in our products was very stunning. We've both been comparing notes and neither one of us can figure out where the positive results could have come from, and we're both trying to find out more from the FDA."
Bachman said that the FDA is a fairly quiet and closed group, so he is not surprised they have yet to communicate back with the companies as to whether any further action will be taken and whether or not they will get access to a portion of the samples that were taken in December.
He noted the FDA switched their testing methods last year, which may account for the irregularly high levels of malachite green they reported.
"If malachite green gets into fish, it's metabolized by them into another form, not in the initial malachite green form. But if you find it in the malachite green form, it's evidence of a new application of the fungicide," said Bachman.
"In Canada, they test for both forms, and allow for a maximum of one part per billion in either form. Last summer, in the U.S., they changed their procedure, where they chemically revert the metabolized form back into malachite green form, and measure that total against the one part per billion standard."
"That new testing procedure could be one of the possible reasons for these new positive tests," said Bachman.
With 80 per cent of all Canada's farmed salmon, some 85,000 tonnes, being shipped to and sold in the U.S., there's no doubt that the quality of the fish being traded needs to be monitored and live up to FDA standards. However, the concern that Canadian aquaculture companies have is that this one incident will overshadow their compliance and dedication to quality farm-grown fish, he said. – Prince Rupert (B.C.) Daily News
Business Toolbox: Your competitor
Fast food that’s actually good for you?
The concern and demand for safe food has never been higher. Americans are just plain tired about having to worry about the latest contamination, E Coli or tampering scandal of the week, and they have the right to be.
The solution is Health Food Hut, the countries first organic and all-natural fast food restaurant, which will feature wild Alaskan seafood, organic beef and chicken, organic salads and wraps, and much, much more.
By eliminating the distributor, and buying direct, we will be able to be price our meals within reach of the casual fast-food buyer.
Health Food Hut will be unique in the industry. A fast-food establishment that offers healthy alternatives via in-store, carryout and drive-through purchases, comprehensive retail meat and produce offerings and even home delivery. – Press release
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