Incidence of Salmonella in fish and seafood

Field laboratories of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration collected and t ested 11,312 import and 768 domestic seafood samples over a 9-year period ( 1990 to 1998) for the presence of Salmonella. The overall incidence of Salm onella was 7.2% for import and 1.3% for domestic seafood. Nearly 10% of imp ort and 2.8% of domestic raw seafood were positive for Salmonella, The over all incidence of Salmonella in ready-to-eat seafood and shellfish eaten raw was 0.47% for domestic-one shucked oyster and one shark cartilage powder. The incidence in the 2,734 ready-to-eat import seafood was 2.6%-cooked shri mp, shellfish or fish paste, smoked fish, salted/dried fish, and caviar. Th e incidence in import shellfish consumed raw was 1% in oyster 3.4% in clams , and 0% in mussels. The incidence in raw, import fish was 12.2%. Distribut ion of Salmonella in seafood on a regional basis indicated the incidence to be highest in central Pacific and Africa and lowest in Europe/Russia and N orth America (12% versus 1.6%). I)ata on a country basis indicated Vietnam to have the highest (30%) and Republic of Korea the lowest (0.7%). While th e most frequent serotypes in import seafood were Salmonella Weltevreden (Is t), Salmonella Senftenberg (2nd), Salmonella Lexington, and Salmonella Para typhi-B (3rd, equal numbers for each serotype), the top 20 list included Sa lmonella Enteritidis (5th), Salmonella Newport (6th), Salmonella Thompson ( 7th), Salmonella Typhimurium (12th), and Salmonella Anatum (13th), commonly involved in foodborne illness in the United States. Because the incidence in the present study is based on only a small fraction of the seafood impor ted into the United States, efforts should be directed toward implementatio n of hazard analysis and critical control points to reduce the incidence of Salmonella in seafood without relying on resting for Salmonella.