What is malachite green illegally added to aquaculture?

live fish off shelf

Around November 23,2016, careful consumers found that many supermarkets could not buy live fish. For this abnormal phenomenon, relevant departments do not accept interviews, supermarkets are also vague. Before credible official news was released, there were various speculations, such as suspected water pollution in Beijing and rumors that water pollution caused freshwater fish pollution.

On November 23,2016, the official Weibo account of Beijing City Food and Drug Administration, Capital Food and Drug Administration, released a message in an attempt to dispel consumers 'doubts. According to the news, 1034 aquatic products were sampled in Beijing in 2016, with a pass rate of 96.62%; from 2015 to November 2016, 2661 aquatic products were sampled in Beijing, with an overall pass rate of 95.94%. According to the information of Beijing Food and Drug Administration, aquatic products sampling inspection has been carried out in the last month, month and season, covering Beijing's major aquatic products markets, shopping malls, supermarkets and catering enterprises in space. The overall sampling inspection is in good condition.

"Most supermarkets stop selling live fish is true, but the specific reason is unknown, it is the independent business behavior of merchants." A staff member of the Beijing Food and Drug Administration said. The worker admitted that the supermarket removed live fish, admitted that he did not know why, and gave a habitual explanation: autonomous business behavior. However, if many businesses adopt this "autonomous behavior," it is a public crisis.

On November 24, 2016, Caixin interviewed the "authoritative person" of the State Food and Drug Administration and gave an "authoritative conclusion":"On November 17, the State Food and Drug Administration issued a special inspection notice for aquatic products in ten cities, one of which was sampling for veterinary drug residues. After that, the Second Department of Food Supervision (responsible for circulation) prepared to go to the Beijing market for random inspection. The news was revealed, causing all aquatic products on the market to be delisted." The authority also explained: "This shows that, first, the confidentiality work is not done well." Second, there are hidden rules in the market, operators have empty hearts, first off the shelf to say."

It is understood that the Beijing City Food and Drug Administration plans to implement the "Special Remediation Plan for Excessive Residues of Antibiotics, Prohibited Compounds and Veterinary Drugs in Livestock and Poultry Aquatic Products" issued by the Food Office of the State Council and other five departments. On the basis of sampling inspection of key varieties such as Duobao Fish, Blackfish and Mandarin Fish (three fish), monitoring malachite green and nitrofuran (two drugs), and combining with the characteristics of sales in the Beijing market, the sampling inspection scope has been further expanded. For many varieties of marine fish on the market, Freshwater fish are subject to comprehensive sampling and routine monitoring. Unfortunately, this news leaked, supermarket live fish to avoid detection, simply came to a "self-removal"_I do not sell fish, check me why.

What is malachite green?

So, supermarkets on the sale of live fish whether it contains, and the bottom of the heart of malachite green in the end what is it? Malachite green is a synthetic organic compound belonging to triphenylmethane type green dye. It is not only dye, but also fungicidal, bactericidal and parasiticidal drugs. Long-term excessive use can cause cancer. Although it is called malachite green, it does not actually contain malachite components, but the two colors are similar. Malachite and malachite green are two completely different substances.

Malachite green enters aquatic animals and is rapidly metabolized into fat-soluble leuco malachite green. Malachite green has potential carcinogenic, teratogenic and mutagenic effects, and its use in aquaculture has not been recognized by the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) of the United States. According to the provisions of EU Act 2002 /675 /EC, the total amount of malachite green and leuco malachite green residues in animal-derived foods is limited to 2ppb. Japan clearly stipulates that malachite green residues cannot be detected in imported aquatic products. China also lists malachite green as a banned drug in the agricultural industry standard NY5071- 2002 Guidelines for the Use of Pollution-free Food and Fish Drugs. Unfortunately, the use of malachite green in aquaculture continues to be proscribed due to the lack of cheap and effective alternatives.

Malachite green is rapidly metabolized into leuco malachite green in aquatic animals, and the toxicity of leuco malachite green even exceeds malachite green. Therefore, the total amount of malachite green and leuco malachite green is usually used as the limit index of malachite green residue in animal-derived foods. Physical and chemical detection methods of malachite green include thin layer chromatography, spectrophotometry, high pressure liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, etc. Compared with immunological detection methods, immunological detection methods are more commonly used.