REFUSED ENTRY REFUSED ENTRY Almost 900 imports of food and vitamins from China were refused entry to the USA by the Food and Drug Administration from May 2006 through April. Types of items with most refusals: Fish/seafood - 340

Vegetable/products - 145

Vitamins/minerals - 142

Fruit/products - 85

Bean curd/sauces - 51

Note: Products with most refusals may not be riskier because amounts imported are unknown. Source: FDA By Karl Gelles, USA TODAY Digg



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Facebook The reasons some foods from China are refused entry into the USA are enough to scare anyone. In March and April, the Food and Drug Administration rejected such things as frozen shrimp that may have contained nitrofuran, an anti-bacterial that can leave a carcinogenic residue; fish suspected of containing salmonella; and bean curd deemed filthy. The safety of food from China is in the spotlight because of pet food that was contaminated by tainted ingredients. On Monday, Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., called on the FDA to consider restricting food and drug imports from China until it knows products meet U.S. health and safety standards. MORE FROM CHINA: A budding food industry faces scrutiny But food safety experts and former FDA officials say China is just one of many developing countries with safety problems that affect foods sold to U.S consumers. "There are problems in a whole bunch of different countries, including China," says Edward Steele, a former FDA official who now advises companies as president of EAS Consulting Group. "Nobody really knows if China is that much worse than anybody else," says Benjamin England, a former FDA lawyer who works with foreign exporters. In fiscal 2006, almost 9 million FDA-regulated food imports entered the USA. The FDA inspected about 1% of those, given limited inspectors and rising imports. Only 0.12% were refused, FDA statistics show. The FDA refuses products because they fail inspection, lack documents or had previous violations. For the 12 months ending April 30, it rejected almost 900 food and vitamin imports from China, records show. Fish and seafood were refused the most, followed by vegetables and vegetable-related products. Based on value, they are China's leading agricultural exports to the USA, says Michael Swanson, agricultural economist with Wells Fargo Bank. The FDA can reject foods for many reasons. For the products refused in the past year, filth was the most common reason, followed by unsafe drug residue, most often in fish or seafood. Other reasons included salmonella, pesticides and use of unsafe colors. The FDA cites the same reasons when rejecting foods from other countries. In recent months, some of the foods the FDA turned away from Mexico included chili because it contained or was suspected of containing a "poisonous" substance, basil because of salmonella concerns and peppers for pesticides. But China stands out not only because of the pet food contamination, but because it's growing fast as a food exporter to the USA. Last year, China exported more than $2.3 billion in agricultural and food products to the USA, exports that have been growing at about a 30% annual rate for the past four years — more than twice the combined average growth rate of other countries, Swanson says. The Department of Agriculture, which regulates meat and poultry, requires countries to have food safety systems on par with the USA's before they can export to this country. The FDA, which regulates about 80% of America's food, does not have that requirement. Share this story: Digg del.icio.us Newsvine Reddit Facebook Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.