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SHENZHENS food and drug authority is conducting tests on turbot being sold in the city after Shanghai officials found in the fish excessive amounts of a kind of medicine suspected of causing cancer.
Samples have been taken from major seafood markets and test results are expected today (Nov 20).
During its latest inspection, the Shanghai food and drug administration detected AOZ, a carcinogenic antibiotic, in all 30 samples of turbot taken from wholesale markets, supermarkets and restaurants. Most turbot on sale in Shanghai is from Shandong Province.
Some samples contained other antibiotic residue, the administration said, adding that some fish farms use antibiotics to boost the low immunity of turbot.
In Shenzhen, most turbot is also supplied by Shandong aquatic farms through two wholesale markets. Turbot is a popular fish in seafood restaurants in the city.
Reporters from the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily found turbot still on sale in some wet markets and restaurants over the weekend, although most wholesalers in the Buji Seafood Wholesale Market have stopped selling the fish.
More than half of the residents interviewed by the newspaper said they knew of the Shanghai test results and would stop buying turbot for the time being.
Shenzhen food and drug inspectors said previous tests on turbot found no banned substances or heavy metals. The city does not consume a significant amount of turbot, the officials said.
Though these medicines cause no harm to the human body in the short term, they are probably carcinogenic when taken in large quantities, an unnamed expert said.
The highest amount of AOZ residue found in a sample in Shanghai was one milligram per kilogram.
Shanghai officials said the levels were not high enough to cause cancer, and were only about 0.3 percent of the dosage of AOZ recommended for the treatment of diarrhea.
National standards stipulate no antibiotics should be found in fish.
The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) said Friday that China will inspect its fish farms in coastal areas after the medicines were found in turbot in Shanghai.
The Shanghai food and drug administration issued an alarm Friday, warning people to be cautious when buying and eating turbot.
The turbot was introduced to China from Europe in the 1990s. About 40,000 tons of turbot is farmed in China every year.
Editor: Wing
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