"Report Faults FDA Over Risks From Imported Seafood"

"The Food and Drug Administration is doing a poor job ensuring that imported seafood doesn't pose health risks to Americans, failing to properly assess foreign producers and inspect the products they ship to the U.S., according to a congressional research report released Monday.

Mike Taylor, FDA deputy commissioner for foods, said in a statement Monday that a new food-safety law passed this year by Congress will improve the agency's ability monitor the safety of imported seafood.

About half of the seafood the U.S. imports comes from foreign fish farms, and the fish grown there are prone to bacterial infections that are often treated with antibiotics and other drugs not approved in the U.S., the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, said in the report.

'The residues of some drugs can cause cancer and antibiotic resistance,' the GAO said."

Bill Tomson reports for the Wall St. Journal May 16, 2011.