ASM: Imported Seafoods Seen As Disease Risk

NEW ORLEANS — The United States is at increasing risk from food imported from developing nations that do not have the same sanitary standards for production, researchers say.

Scientists at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans said increased importation of food creates greater risk of food-borne disease, especially in the case of seafood and fresh produce, an ASM release reported Monday.

"Approximately 15 percent of food consumed in the United States in 2006 was imported," Michael Doyle of the University of Georgia said.

"Sanitation practices for food production are not universally equivalent throughout the world. Importing foods can move diseases from areas where they are indigenous to locations where they are seldom found or do not exist," he said.

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