HK bans sales of toxic hairy crabs
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E-mail CRI, November 3, 2016
The Center for Food Safety in Hong Kong said Tuesday that a random inspection revealed that two out of five types of hairy crab samples are contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals.
![File photo of crab harvest. [Photo: Sohu]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20161103/00016c42b4161984d4c106.jpg "File photo of crab harvest. [Photo: Sohu]") |
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File photo of crab harvest. [Photo: Sohu] |
The crab samples originated from two farms in east China's Jiangsu Province and have been found to exceed the safety level of dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs).
Test results of the inspection in late September, which was released on Monday, found the two types of crabs contained 11.7 picograms and 40.3 picograms of dioxin per gram of weight, respectively, much higher than the prescribed level of 6.5 picograms.
Authorities have ordered retailers to stop selling the crabs from the two farms, but it is not clear how many of the affected crabs had already been sold.
It has been reported that these two farms have supplied up to 80% of the hairy crabs in Hong Kong.
An investigation is under way.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN, IF YOU EAT IT?
Dr. Philip Ho Yuk-Yin,a consultant at the Centre for Food Safety in Hong Kong, told the media that the affected crabs would not cause any immediate health risks or food poisoning; however, chronic toxicities cannot be ignored.
"If a person has consumed more than 14 large, contaminated hairy crabs during the season, which runs from September to November, they would exceed their monthly intake limit of the chemicals," he said.
A FISHY STANDARD?
At present, Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland have not reached any agreement on the standards of dioxins and DL-PCBs levels.
According to an evaluation by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), a provisionally tolerable monthly intake (PTMI) for dioxins and DL-PCBs should be below 70 pg TEQ/kg of body weight.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified dioxins and DL-PCBs as human carcinogens. Long-term intake will cause damage to immune systems, reproductive functioning, endocrine and developing nervous systems. Also, it is believed to cause diabetes, thyroid dysfunction and heart diseases.
Regulations by the European Union state that in fish and related products, including crabs, the limitation for dioxins is 3.5 pg/g of wet weight, and the limitation for the combined amount of dioxins and DL-PCBs is 6.5pg/g of wet weight.
ABOUT THE CRAB FEAST
This year's official hunting season of Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs began on September 23 in Suzhou.
It's the time of the year when food lovers pay high prices for the small crustacean delicacies known as hairy crabs and have a feast, which lasts from September till November.
The crab meat has a sweet taste, and it is prized for the female crab roe. On average, the crabs cost 500-700 yuan or some 100 USD per kilogram.
Most of the Yangcheng crabs are exported to Shanghai and Hong Kong, as well as other high-profit markets.
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