antibiotic residues? China is a big culprit wrspt. antibiotic residue contaminants in honey, milk, and fish and meat products.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=585858&mesg_id=586972http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1829926.stmThe Food Standards Agency (FSA) is calling for the withdrawal from sale of all jars of Chinese and blended honey.
Tests were carried out following concerns about a lack of control on the use of veterinary drugs in China.
They revealed traces of an antibiotic called chloramphenicol in ten out of 16 samples.
In larger doses chloramphenicol can cause cancer.
It is also considered a contributory factor in developing aplastic anaemia, a rare but serious blood disorder that affects 50 to 100 people a year in the UK.
A team of independent scientific experts convened to assess the risk to the consumer concluded that it was extremely small.
The FSA's advice is that people can continue to eat any honey they have already bought, irrespective of country of origin.
It is estimated that between a third and a half of all blended honey on sale in the UK comes from China. Approximately 80% of honey consumed in the UK is blended.
A spokeswoman for the FSA said: "We are not saying don't eat Chinese and blended honey, because there is an extremely low risk.
"But we are saying chloramphenicol is illegal and undesirable so we are calling for the withdrawal of Chinese and blended honey."
Retailers
The Honey Association has advised all its members to withdraw any blends containing Chinese honey from sale, and to seek alternative sources of honey until acceptable standards of monitoring are introduced in China.
In a statement, the association said: "This will obviously have pricing implications throughout the industry, but it is of paramount importance to all members to maintain consumer confidence in honey overall as a natural, energy-giving food."
All existing stocks of Chinese honey in the UK will now undergo very stringent tests and will only be released for production if they fully comply with the EU standards.
The voluntary testing programme will also apply to industrial blends containing Chinese honey (which are often blended in production), as well as shipments from China already on the sea when the EU suspension was put into effect.
http://www.apimondia.org/apiacta/articles/2005/michaud_1.pdfhttp://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=117&art_id=vn20070328115557290C460795 Honey leaves a bad taste in the mouth
March 28 2007 at 04:36PM
By Maureen Marud
No honey imported from China has ever been stocked by Woolworths and the Shoprite Group, and Pick 'n Pay is asking all its suppliers to verify that their honey is uncontaminated.
The three biggest supermarket chains were quick to react to the news that countless litres of Chinese honey already consumed in South Africa in the past four years were contaminated with a dangerous antibiotic residue suspected of causing liver cancer and a potentially fatal rare blood disorder.
But local beekeepers, who say their honey has never been contaminated with any potentially toxic substance, claimed Chinese honey was still coming into South Africa without being tested for residues.
"Not all honey imported from China is contaminated," said Nico Langenhoven, former chairman of the South African Bee Industry Organisation.
"I have had three imported batches tested by the South African Bureau of Standards and no antibiotic residue was found," said Langenhoven.
"But there has been a negative perception about Chinese honey ever since 2002, when the European Union banned its importation for two years, and the United States and Canada followed suit."
Those countries stopped imports of Chinese honey after the chloramphenicol residue of the neo-terramycin antibiotic was found in the honey. The antibiotic is used to treat bees for disease, but many Chinese producers are believed to overdose even healthy hives as a preventative measure, leaving potentially toxic traces in the honey harvest.
http://www.fst.vt.edu/extension/drg/dfax/August06.htmlChina 's New Standard on Antibiotic Residues
China currently has around 12 million cows producing 3 tons of milk each per year. The Chinese are estimated to consume about 18kg of dairy produce per capita. The consumption of dairy products in China has grown rapidly in the last 30 years, prompting an increasing drive for food safety and consumer health. The Ministry of Agriculture has drawn up a new national standard on raw milk that will make testing for antibiotics in raw milk compulsory for dairy processors.
Antibiotics are widely used by Chinese dairy farmers to treat infections in their dairy herds and previously, there has been no regulation in place to restrict their use. A recent survey has shown that around 50 percent of milk products on the market contain antibiotic residues. Since residues can reach the milk, people who are allergic to specific antibiotics are at risk. Also, frequent exposure to low level antibiotics can cause microorganisms to become resistant to them, through mutation, so that they are ineffective when needed to fight a human infection.
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/02/1351&format=HTML&aged=1&language=EN&guiLanguage=enChina
Following the detection of the antibiotic chloramphenicol in certain aquaculture and fishery products imported from China, and shortcomings identified during a Commission inspection visit to China, imports of products of animal origin from China were suspended in March this year (IP/02/143). At that time, the decision said that this would be reviewed in the light of further information provided by the Chinese authorities and the results from increased testing carried out by Member States on consignments arriving before 14 March. In May, (IP/02/693), in the light of information provided by the Chinese authorities, and the favourable results of the tests carried out, the imports of certain fish products, gelatine, and sausage casings were resumed, subject to increased monitoring and testing to ensure their safety.
In view of the favourable results of the test carried out on fish products during recent months, it was decided today that re-enforced testing is no longer required for whole fish, gutted and de-headed fish and fish fillets of the following species: Alaska pollack, cod and redfish, Blue Whiting, Halibut, Haddock, Herring, Yellowfin sole, Cephalopods, Plaice, Pacific salmon and fillets of salmon. Reinforced testing is maintained for sausage casings.
http://www.dairyreporter.com/news/ng.asp?n=69604-business-news-aqsiq-antibiotic-dairy-chinaChina to clamp down on antibiotics in milk
By Francis Yang
03/08/2006- China is preparing to launch a new national standard on raw milk to prevent dairy products containing antibiotic residues from reaching the marketplace.
According to a report in Shanghai-based newspaper China Business News this week, a new national standard on raw milk, which has been drawn up by the Ministry of Agriculture, is waiting to be approved by the Standardization Administration of China. It will make the testing of antibiotics and flavacol M1 in raw milk compulsory for dairy processors.
The move shows the increasing drive for food safety and consumer health in China, where consumption of dairy products has grown rapidly in the last 30 years.
Antibiotics are widely used by Chinese dairy farmers to treat infections in their dairy herds and there is no regulation in place to restrict their use. But residues of these drugs can reach a cow's milk and therefore, the human foodchain.
A survey conducted by China's food safety authority AQSIQ in the first half of this year showed that around 50 per cent of milk products on the market contained residues of antibiotics, said the paper.
This can be dangerous for people who are allergic to specific antibiotics. Also, frequent exposure to low level antibiotics can cause microorganisms to become resistant to them, through mutation, so that they are ineffective when needed to fight a human infection.
In other countries, cows given antibiotics are typically withheld from the milk supply for some days and both farmers and dairy processors carry out routine testing for antibiotics, with serious penalties for those found to be selling milk containing residues. But in China's major dairy regions, where milk is collected from thousands of small dairy farmers, testing for antibiotics is not standard practice.
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