Officials across the country are finding high levels of imported seafood with dangerous and banned substances present. Imported seafood currently makes up 80 percent of seafood sold and eaten in the United States, and poses a major health risk.

As previously reported, the imported seafood industry is not only costing Americans jobs, but is costing Americans their lives. A Today Show report chronicles many of the same dangers of seafood raised in polluted waters in numerous Asian nations.

John Conelly, a representative for the imported seafood industry, said in a pathetic attempt to defend the actions of these toxic seafood producers, “The vast majority of seafood coming in exhibits no problems.”

The FDA, which only has the resources to check less than 2 percent of imported seafood, has found between 8 and 16 percent of products from China and Taiwan to be tainted. Tests done in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Oklahoma find almost half of imported seafood is contaminated. These results are in direct contradiction to the reassurances of the industry.

While supermarkets now label seafood products by country of origin, restaurants do not. There is currently no way of telling whether the shrimp cocktail appetizer came from Louisiana or Vietnam. This is unacceptable, as consumers have a right to know, especially when their seafood may contain known carcinogens.

American seafood is 100 percent toxin free due to stringent regulation, so this is by no means an impossible feat for other nations. Unfortunately, foreign nations, “quite honestly don’t care about the health of United States citizens,” FDA official Joe Basile said.

Japan has taken measures to deal with this problem, as well as the European Union, so there is no reason to let this atrocity continue here. This is clearly a continuing issue that shows no sign of stopping unless we take action in this country to demand accountability and safety.

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