April 27--Random tests of frozen shrimp collected from around the country showed harmful bacteria, the nonprofit consumer advocacy group Consumer Reports said Monday.
Sixty percent of the raw samples tested positive for one or more types of bacteria (salmonella, vibrio, Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli or listeria) and seven of the samples tested positive for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA. MRSA is difficult to treat because it's resistant to many antibiotics.
Consumer Reports said it tested 342 samples of frozen shrimp, 284 raw and 58 cooked, from 27 cities across the country. About 94 percent of shrimp is imported.
Eleven samples of raw shrimp had antibiotic residues, Consumer Reports said.
The Food and Drug Administration, which inspects samples of imported shrimp for drugs and chemicals, has not approved the use of antibiotics in shrimp, raising health concerns by the advocacy group.
"The use of antibiotics is particularly concerning as overuse can lead to the rise of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can't be easily controlled," said Urvashi Rangan, executive director of Consumer Reports' Food Safety and Sustainability Center. "It's important to consider how the shrimp you're buying was raised, and how and where it was caught,"
The FDA last year tested less than 1 percent of imported shrimp, according to Consumer Reports. A spokeswoman said the regulatory body "takes the safety of the seafood Americans eat very seriously."
"Inspections are only one of FDA's tools," spokeswoman Lauren Sucher said. "Most bacteria found in raw shrimp are killed in the cooking process. Shrimp is rarely the subject of an outbreak in the United States."
ehirst@tribpub.com
