Saturday, August 04, 2007
China bans Indonesia seafood citing toxins and disease causing pathogens (6:25 p.m.)
BEIJING-- China has banned all Indonesian seafood imports after checks turned up toxins, dangerous chemicals and pathogens, the government food regulator said.
The Chinese administration said Indonesian products have been found tainted with mercury and cadmium, metals that can accumulate in water and soil. It also said products had been found to contain nitrofural, an anti-bacterial agent that has been found to potentially cause cancer in laboratory animals, as well as disease-causing pathogens.
Martani Huseini, a senior official at Indonesia's Department of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said the move appeared to be in reaction to an import ban imposed last month on Chinese food supplements, cosmetics and medicines over safety concerns.
Huseini said Indonesia would investigate the Chinese claims but was confident it had fulfilled all international standards in seafood processing.
Meanwhile, Indonesia said it found that some Chinese cosmetics contained mercury and rhodamin, that medicines contained unauthorized chemicals, and that food supplements had some additives that were dangerous to the health. (AP) |
