Banned chemical discovered in Canadian farmed salmon

Jun 5 2005

Canadian federal officials have confirmed that farmed salmon with trace amounts of a banned chemical have recently been found on store shelves.

The salmon came from a Stolt Sea Farm facility on British Columbia's East Thurlow Island.

The chemical which has been found is called malachite green, a chloride compound once used as a fungicide in hatcheries, but which was banned from the food chain in 1992 after Health Canada produced conclusive evidence that it was carcinogenic.

Stephen Jay Stephen, from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), who is investigating the incident says a recall was launched as soon as the chemical was discovered.

However, Stephen says public health risk is very small because only a very low level of malachite green was detected.

Approximately 36,000 kilograms of tainted fish are believed to have reached the market, and how much of the total was bought by Canadian consumers is not known.

It does mean that the company will be unable to sell on Canadian markets the 310,000 salmon still swimming at its farm.

Even if Stolt wants to export all of the fish to countries that don't have a zero-tolerance policy for malachite green, CFIA approval is still needed.

Dale Blackburn, vice-president of west coast operations for Stolt, says the company has not used the chemical for years.

The provincial fisheries ministry says it is investigating the sale of fish eggs believed to be the source of the malachite green.