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Yet another complicating factor in ensuring the safety of 

 seafood is the fact that no other flesh food is imported in the 

 quantity, variety, or from as many countries, as seafood. 

 Nearly 60 percent of seafood consumed in this country is 

 imported from approximately 135 countries. Several of these 

 countries have advanced regulatory structures for seafood, but 

 many others lack comparable structures for seafood sanitation 

 and safety. 



B. The Safety of Seafood: What We Know 



There are many hazards that have the potential to affect 

 safety. The question of how frequently these hazards occur and 

 actually cause illness is not currently answerable with 

 precision because foodborne illness is not always recognized or 

 properly diagnosed; and because the system for generating and 

 collecting reports on foodborne illness experiences significant 

 underreporting. 



Nonetheless, there are conclusions about the safety of seafood 

 that we believe can be drawn with confidence because they 

 reflect general scientific consensus. The National Academy of 

 Sciences (NAS) conducted an extensive study of seafood safety 

 and concluded in its 1991 report that, "Most seafoods available 

 to the U.S. public are wholesome and unlikely to cause illness 

 in the consumer." We agree. As with many foods, illnesses do 



