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How Antibiotic-Tainted Seafood From China Ends Up on Your Table
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How Antibiotic-Tainted Seafood From China Ends Up on Your Table

You might want to pass on the shrimp cocktail.

Jason Gale, Lydia Mulvany and Monte Reel
Bloomberg Businessweek , 2016
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8

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Recommendation

Love shrimp? It’s the most popular seafood in the United States, but most of it is imported, and it can be very hard to tell where it originates. As Bloomberg Businessweek reporters Jason Gale, Lydia Mulvany, and Monte Reel explain, some of it comes from antibiotic-contaminated fish farms in China. They paint an alarming picture of ancient Chinese farming practices that combine with modern antibiotic-laced livestock feed to create a potential public health crisis. The authors expose the covert activities of international seafood companies bent on avoiding tariffs and inspection. getAbstract recommends this article to shrimp lovers everywhere.

Take-Aways

  • In China, livestock effluent runs off into fish farms, complete with nearly undiluted levels of antibiotics fed to pigs.
  • Antibiotics in the food supply could cause antibiotic-resistance in humans. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspects Chinese shrimp imports to ensure they’re safe.
  • Some foreign seafood companies conceal the origin of their shrimp to avoid tariffs and FDA inspections by routing their products through shell companies in other countries.

About the Authors

Jason Gale is a senior editor at Bloomberg Businessweek, with a special interest in global public health. Lydia Mulvany is a reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek, and Monte Reel is a published author and journalist.

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