With Thanksgiving right around the corner, Americans are focused on food more than any other week of the year.  Which brings us to some good news -- no American has died from eating seafood imported from China.  Yet.   Nearly 80% of seafood consumed in the United States is imported, and 40% of that fish is raised by aquaculture, or fish “farming” done in ponds or closed off river and coastal areas. At about five billion pounds a year, China is the largest exporter of seafood to the U.S. In June of 2007, the FDA issued an official Import Alert for five species of Chinese fish including shrimp, catfish and eel because of the high level of bacterial contamination and chemicals banned in the United States that were discovered through import tests.  This should not surprise anyone, as the production and transportation of seafood in China is fragmented and safety regulations widely ignored.  Environmental regulations in China are also ignored, and while half of China has sewage treatment available, the other half doesn’t, resulting in an estimated 4 billion tons of waste (yes, that kind of waste) being dumped into lakes, river, and ocean areas. Because much of China’s aquaculture takes place in water contaminated with raw sewage (yes, that kind of sewage), fish farmers try to compensate by adding dangerous anti-microbial agents and pesticides.  Corruption in the Chinese food inspection system is rampant, and last year the head of China’s food safety agency committed suicide rather than face a extensive corruption probe.   Manpower at the FDA is dangerously limited, with the agency only inspecting about 1 – 2% of seafood imports.  Of the seafood import inspections done in the last year, 54% of these product shipments failed U.S. safety standards.  Additionally, the FDA often uses private inspectors – paid by the Chinese exporters – to provide “independent” analysis of seafood products.  Despite rampant safety concerns, the FDA is now considering lifting this Import Alert, which would trigger a 2007 agreement between our Department of Health and Human Services and the Chinese government that would shift safety compliance to the Chinese government.   This evokes a fishy version of the rooster guarding the henhouse. U.S. government agencies must send a strong message to Chinese exporters by pursuing a vigorous inspection process and aggressively publicizing information about failed inspections.   FDA should require “country of origin” labeling on all seafood products, perform a full resource allocation review, and perhaps get in line for a bailout of its own. Consumers should regularly check safety alerts at www.FDA.gov, ask their favorite grocery chain what seafood safety it has in place, and make sure that they wash and cook fish completely when preparing it at home. And perhaps be grateful that the Pilgrims served turkey and not shrimp.