| Flatfish sales banned after carcinogens found |
BEIJING, Nov. 21 -- Beijing banned the sale of turbot, a European flatfish, yesterday after detecting excessive amounts of carcinogens in the fish.
The city set up a 12315 hotline for citizens to report sales of the contaminated fish, the food security office said.
Several other cities and provinces - including Tianjin, Xi'an and Liaoning - have also started inspections of turbot after Shanghai said on Friday it had detected excessive residues including nitrofuran and chloromycetin in 30 samples of turbot. The chemicals are known cancer-causing agents.
Officials suspect some fish farmers are knowingly feeding banned chemicals to the fish.
Fish markets, shopping malls, and hotels in Shanghai have stopped selling turbot after the government issued warnings about the fish.
The eastern province of Shandong, a major turbot producing area, has taken measures to monitor turbot farms.
The province has banned sales of turbot containing excessive amounts of carcinogens that were fed banned chemicals by fish farmers.
Shandong has urged local authorities to halt use of banned medicines and foodstuffs for turbot and other fish.
It has also called on local authorities to trace contaminated fish and intensify inspection of the raising, transport, storage and sales of turbot and other fish.
Due to their low resistance to disease, the fish, introduced from Europe in the 1990s, are sometimes fed large quantities of medicinal supplements, resulting in a cancer-causing residue in their flesh.
The State Food and Drug Administration has ordered authorities in coastal areas including Shandong, Jiangsu, Hebei, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Liaoning, and Tianjin to closely monitor the situation.
Other recent food quality issues in China include parasite-infested snails and steroid-tainted pork.
|
|
