4 °C - the National Sea Grant Library

FDA’S SEAFOOD HACCP INITIATIVE
Miriam D. Stuckey
Program and Enforcement Branch
Office of Seafood
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Good morning! Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you today about
FDA’s Seafood HACCP Initiative. This is a time of great change in the world of seafood in
the United States. It is a time of changes in how we regulate seafood domestically and
internationally, as well as changes in how we participate in international trade. It is also an
exciting time for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for consumers and for the seafood
industry. I want to talk about these changes and explore further with you the impact they
will have on us.
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rde 1. Whv HACC
. P (Environmental.. Species)
Wild Caught, Natural Hazards, Most Perishable
First and foremost, seafood is unique - for a several reasons.
Most of it is still predominantly wild-caught and therefore potentially exposed to a wide
range of natural hazards, as well as hazards from human pollution. We must cope with a
multitude of diverse environmental hazards, industrial pollutants near shore, and whatever
problems or hazards may occur in the open ocean.
Seafood is the most perishable of all flesh foods; often resulting in decomposition, and
occasionally illness from scombroid poisoning.
Consumed Raw, Many Species, Varied Regulatory Control
Seafood is consumed raw much more than any terrestrial flesh food.
Seafood consists of literally hundreds of species from all over the globe, many having little
in common other than an aquatic origin.
No other flesh food is imported into the U.S. in such quantity (53% of the supply) or from so
many places - over 135 countries. Some of these countries have advanced regulatory
structures for seafood safety, but many do not.
Widely distributed, Recreational to Commercial, Seasonal
The distribution system for seafood is so extensive that both safety and shelf life can be
adversely affected.