IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Lexington Herald-Leader: "Consumers can be confident in the safety of Gulf seafood"

Friday, March 4, 2011  |  Contact: Lisa R. Faust; (225) 342-7913 or (225) 252-3579 (cell)

"Consumers can be confident in the safety of Gulf seafood"
Lexington Herald-Leader (Kentucky)
Eric Schwaab, NOAA, Assistant Administrator
Donald Kraemer, FDA, Deputy Director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Jimmy Guidry, M.D., Louisiana DHH, State Health Officer
March 4, 2011
Link 

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The system set up to keep tainted seafood out of circulation worked.

At the top of the list for NOAA, FDA and the Gulf states has always been ensuring public safety and the integrity of Gulf seafood.

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At the height of the spill, more than a third of the federal waters in the Gulf were closed to fishing. With the Coast Guard, we enforced the closure boundaries, and together we developed and carried out a comprehensive plan for testing Gulf seafood.

Driven by science and with human health as the highest priority, the extensive sampling and testing plan allowed areas to open only when every piece of seafood sampled there passed both sensory and chemical testing.

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The results of the tests, all publicly available, should help Americans buy Gulf seafood with confidence: the seafood has consistently tested 100 to 1,000 times lower than the safety thresholds established by the FDA for the residues of oil contamination.

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We had many opportunities to work with the fishermen and seafood processors throughout the region, and we witnessed their steadfast commitment to ensuring the safety and wholesomeness of their catch every day. We continue to be thankful for their cooperation through the often challenging process of closing and reopening affected waters.

Because of the hard work and cooperation of Gulf fishermen, seafood processors, and state, local and federal health and fisheries officials, American consumers can feel confident in the quality and safety of Gulf seafood.