Antibiotic-Tainted Seafood From China Is A Major World Health Problem

Ninety percent of the antibiotics administered to pigs in China passes undegraded in urine and feces into ponds used to raise fish that are exported globally. Despite ten years of FDA testing and seizure of seafood tainted with antibiotics, it keeps arriving at U.S. ports, restaurants and grocery stores. It’s simply too difficult to police the dishonest seafood companies and distribution networks that move the dirty seafood around the world. Microbes increasingly resistant to antibiotics lead to the creation of “superbugs” for which there is no treatment. In fact, a year ago scientists discovered a colistin-resistant gene in China that can transform a dozen or more types of bacteria into superbugs. The gene has since been found in patients, food, and environmental samples in more than 20 countries, including the U.S.