It’s the FDA’s job to inspect shrimp coming into the U.S. to make sure it doesn’t contain any drugs or chemicals that aren’t permitted in imported shrimp. But in our tests, of the 205 raw farmed imported shrimp samples, 11 samples from Vietnam, Thailand, and Bangladesh tested positive for one or more antibiotics: Nine tested positive for oxytetracycline, three contained enrofloxacin, and two contained sulfa antibiotics. (Consumer Reports is calling on the federal government to make shrimp safer for American consumers.)

The contaminated samples were purchased at the following retailers in March, 2014: Albertsons, Costco, Fry’s Marketplace, Hy-Vee, Kroger, Sprouts Farmers Market and Walmart. (In nearly all cases we also purchased raw farmed imported shrimp from those outlets that tested negative for any antibiotics.) Consumer Reports is not alleging that any of the retailers from which we purchased the 11 raw farmed shrimp that tested positive for antibiotic residues violated any laws. It is the FDA, not local retailers, that is charged with enforcing the law that prohibits importing shrimp containing antibiotics. According to the FDA, if those drugs had been detected in even one shrimp sample, the entire shipment would have been refused entry into the U.S. Consumer Reports has shared our test results with the FDA and asked them to investigate (For more details about our test results, visit greenerchoices.org/shrimp.)