From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Imported Seafood Safety Description: Most of the seafood Americans eat comes from abroad and much of it is farm-raised. How could FDA and USDA better protect consumers from potential health risk associated with eating imported seafood? Related GAO Work: GAO-17-443: Imported Seafood Safety: FDA and USDA Could Strengthen Efforts to Prevent Unsafe Drug Residues Released: October 2017 [ Background Music ] [ Steve Morris: ] You know, drug residues in imported seafood is a potential health risk to consumers, folks need to know that. [ Sara Kaczmarek: ] Welcome to GAO's Watch Dog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm Sara Kaczmarek. Most of the seafood we eat in the U.S. is imported and about half of it is farm raised. Because farmed seafood is raised in confined areas and susceptible to infections, farmers may use drugs like antibiotics. But did you know that unapproved drugs or the misuse of approved drugs could result in an unsafe residue on seafood. I spoke with Steve Morris, a director in our Natural Resources and Environment team to talk about GAO's new report on imported seafood safety. First, I wanted to know what types of imported seafood did his team look at in this review. [ Steve Morris: ] We took a look at some of the more popular seafood that folks eat in the U.S., including shrimp, salmon, tilapia, and catfish. And Sara, as you mentioned in the opener, you know, most of the fish is imported, then it also comes from fish farms, and there's some real concerns about the use of drugs on these farms and the potential effect it may have on folks. So, we took a look at what the government is doing to protect consumers and ensure of the safety of the imported seafood. [ Sara Kaczmarek: ] Okay, so let me ask you then about the safety issue, I know there's this drug residue that can be on the fish, what are some of the risks to consumers that, that poses? [ Steve Morris: ] Consumers need to understand that there are some potential risks associated with eating seafood, especially farm-raised seafood. For example there's some risk associated with pathogens like salmonella and parasites like tapeworms, for example. The good news there is that cooking can eliminate those risks. However, the drug residues can remain in seafood from harvesting to processing, to consumption. So, unfortunately when it comes to the drug residue issue, cooking will not eliminate that health risk. [ Sara Kaczmarek: ] And what are some of the health risks then? [ Steve Morris: ] Some of these drugs can cause some major impacts. So it's very important to make sure that these drugs residues are being monitored and folks aren't consuming excessive amounts. [ Sara Kaczmarek: ] Okay, so if I'm going to the grocery store and buying imported seafood for my family for dinner what should I be looking out for? [ Steve Morris: ] From a consumer perspective it's very difficult to know what the risky seafood is, that's why we took a look at what the government is doing to ensure that seafood is being safe. So we took a look at what FDA is doing because they have the majority of the responsibility and also what USDA is doing because they have responsibility for catfish, specifically. [ Sara Kaczmarek: ] And is the government doing enough to ensure that the seafood is safe to eat? [ Steve Morris: ] Yeah, well from the FDA perspectives they have a really big job to do. Just to give you some context, they're responsible for ensuring the safety of almost all the seafood we consume. So we're talking 6 billion pounds of seafood every year from about 140 countries. So it's pretty immense. In terms of what they're doing specifically, you know, they are taking some steps to protect consumers. The challenge here, Sara, is that FDA typically conducts pretty limited inspections and testing. So, for instance, FDA inspected about 2 percent of seafood processors and probably about 1/10th of 1 percent of the seafood for unsafe drug residue. So, it's a very limited effort. [ Background Music ] [ Sara Kaczmarek: ] Since the FDA and USDA could be doing more to ensure the safety of the seafood we eat, I asked Steve to walk me through some of the recommendations his team made in this report. [ Steve Morris: ] We identified a number of opportunities for FDA and USDA. For example, both FDA and USDA can do a better job of working with other countries that export seafood to the U.S.-particularly in the area of requiring these countries to test for drugs that we consider harmful to consumers. That's a key point. Also USDA needs to at least consider sampling a number of foreign fish farms, basically just to determine the conditions under which the catfish are being raised and what drugs are being used. We think that's important for USDA to know. And then lastly, FDA and USDA can do a better job just coordinating in developing these drug residue testing methods and coming up with acceptable drug residue levels to ensure that consumers are protected. [ Sara Kaczmarek: ] So, finally, what do you see as the key take away from this report, you know, especially for consumers? [ Steve Morris: ] You know, drug residues in imported seafood, is a potential health risk to consumers. Folks need to know that. The government is taking these risks seriously. They're working to ensure the safety of imported seafood. But we think that there are opportunities here to improve these efforts. [ Background Music ] [ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] Thanks for listening to the Watchdog Report. To hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple podcasts. [ Background Music ] [ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] For more from the Congressional Watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, visit us at gao.gov.