Food Quality News - Industry not
Speaking at the ASM meeting on Monday, Michael Doyle of the University of Georgia said that an increasing quantity of imported food and food ingredients from developing nations is increasing the risk of food contamination in the United States. However, he added that consumers should not rule out ingredients from entire countries as ‘unsafe’, pointing out that most food manufacturers will only import ingredients if they can verify that they have been produced in sanitary conditions.
"It is incumbent on food processors to ensure ingredients or products they import are produced under good sanitary practices,” Doyle said. “It is the industry that is responsible for producing safe food.”
Part of the problem is that there is such a huge quantity of food being imported into the United States that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is responsible for ensuring the safety of more than 80 percent of the US food supply, can only inspect a small amount of it.
According to government figures, imports account for about 15 percent of the total US food supply, including 60 percent of fresh fruit and vegetables and 80 percent of seafood. The Government Accountability Office says there are about 189,000 registered foreign sites where food is made for sale in the United States, but the FDA only inspects a tiny fraction of them – just 153 in 2008.
While Doyle says that US food manufacturers should take responsibility for producing safe foods, government also has a role to play.
“It is the government's responsibility to verify that they are providing safe foods," he said.
In addition, Doyle highlighted that food safety standards are not the same throughout the world, pointing to the use of domestic sewage and livestock manure in some Asian fish farms, and the use of pesticides for agriculture and antibiotics for fish and shrimp production in China that are not approved for use in the United States.
"The reality is we are going to continue to import foods at a greater rate in large part because labor costs in developing countries are much lower than they are here,” Doyle said. “We are going to see more food coming from developing countries which frequently have lower standards for producing foods.”
But he warned against blacklisting certain countries’ imports, considering that US food makers are generally very careful to ensure ingredient safety.
He said: “Just because it comes from a particular country that does not necessarily mean it is bad."
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The year 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United States (1995–2025). In parallel with the nation's progress in international economic integration, bilateral seafood trade has followed a remarkably impressive growth trajectory, expanding from an initial scale of just tens of millions of US dollars to nearly $2 billion annually. This growth has positioned the United States as Vietnam’s largest seafood export market for many consecutive years.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On December 12, 2025, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Processing and Export (VASEP) issued document 231/CV-VASEP regarding strengthening measures to combat IUU fishing and working with the Government to lift the EC's IUU yellow card warning.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Tilapia is easy to farm and provides high economic and nutritional value, making it a sought-after export commodity in many countries.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s seafood exports in the first 10 months of 2025 recorded significant progress, reaching more than USD 9.5 billion, up 15% year-on-year. This result reflects the sector’s persistent efforts amid a highly volatile market, especially policy shocks from the US Although signs of slowdown emerged in the third quarter due to countervailing taxes, key product groups still maintained strong momentum and created a foundation for full-year exports to reach USD 11 billion.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s agreement with the United States on a framework for reciprocal, fair, and balanced trade—reached during the 2025 ASEAN Summit in Malaysia—has generated strong optimism for Vietnamese exports, including tuna. Numerous positive points in the joint statement have raised high expectations for Vietnamese export goods, but turning these expectations into tangible benefits remains a long and challenging journey.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) At the conference on “Linking the Production and Consumption Chain of Ca Mau Crab 2025,” Vice Chairman of the Ca Mau Provincial People’s Committee Lê Văn Sử posed a central question: how to shift the province’s crab exports toward official trade channels, instead of relying heavily on small-scale border trade with China as currently practiced.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The whitefish market in Japan is showing a clear divergence among supplying countries, in which Vietnam continues to affirm its role as a stable and high-potential exporter. Vietnam currently ranks third after the US and Russia in whitefish export value to Japan. Thanks to tariff incentives and the ability to meet Japan’s strict standards, Vietnamese pangasius continues to record a stable and positive growth trend.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The People's Committee of Ca Mau Province has just issued a plan to expand the super-intensive, low-water-exchange, biosecure white-leg shrimp farming model (RAS-IMTA) for whiteleg shrimp farming to a scale of 1,500 hectares, aiming to develop high-tech, sustainable and environmentally friendly shrimp farming.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Sa Giang Import-Export Joint Stock Company (HNX: SGC) plans to issue over 7.1 million shares to raise nearly 465 Billion VND for Hoan Ngoc M&A Deal.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) According to Rabobank, global tilapia production is forecast to exceed 7 million tons in 2025, driven by a strong recovery in major producing countries including China, Indonesia, Egypt, Bangladesh and Vietnam. Among them, Vietnam is emerging as a potential tilapia supplier in the global supply chain, capitalizing on market fluctuations to expand production and exports.
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