Senator ‘encourages’ FDA administrator to start catfish inspections
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) has encouraged the head of the Food and Drug Administration to work with her federal counterparts to implement a catfish inspection program that ensures foreign imports are safe for consumers.
Cochran addressed the catfish inspection issue, as well as impending menu nutrition labeling regulations, during a Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to review the FY2014 budget request for the FDA. In addition to serving on this subcommittee, Cochran is the ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Cochran told FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg that catfish producers in Mississippi and other states believe imported fish should be held to the same inspection, certification and labeling standards applied to domestically-produced catfish. He asked about the extent to which the FDA can adequately monitor and inspect the increasing volume of fish imported into the United States.
MBJ
4/19/13
Magnolia Tribune
