Traceability

Seafood safety monitoring programmes

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:34:10 GMT

The main objective for the Norwegian authorities is to ensure food safety. One prerequisite for safe seafood is to monitor undesirable substances, such as organic contaminants, residues from pharmaceuticals for aquaculture, microorganisms and parasites in wild-caught or farmed seafood, and in fish feed.

Control of fish feed producers and monitoring of feeding stuffs for fish

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:34:11 GMT

On behalf of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority NIFES coordinates an annual surveillance of feeding stuffs for fish feed and other aquatic animals to ensure compliance with Norwegian and EU legislation and to gain knowledge on substances where upper limit has not yet been established. The programme has been in operation since 1996.

Monitoring of shellfish production

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:34:12 GMT

The Norwegian Food Safety Authorities’ monitoring programme for shellfish started in 1999 in order to ensure that the hygienic quality of shellfish for human consumption complies with EU and Norwegain legislation.

Pharmaceuticals for farmed fish

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:34:11 GMT

Norway has an elaborated system for control and monitoring of pharmaceuticals used for the treatment of disease of farmed fish. This system ensures that seafood products do not contain residues of illegal pharmaceuticals or residues of legal substances above internationally accepted levels (MRLs).

Infectious matter, zoonotic agents and parasites

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:34:10 GMT

The possibility of transmitting undesirable infectious agents from fish and seafood to consumers are rare. There are – as far as foodstuff originating from birds and mammals are concerned – very few infectious agents, so-called zoonotic agents, that can be passed on to humans. There are so far no known bacteria or viruses that produce diseases both among Norwegian coldwater species of fish, shellfish and humans.