Laboratory testing confirms that Florida seafood is safe!

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) is responsible for testing seafood harvested from the Gulf of Mexico to ensure they are safe to eat. Laboratory testing shows that Florida seafood products are plentiful, safe and have not been affected by the oil spill.

Between August 2010 and June 2011, the Department’s Division of Food Safety has screened 297 seafood samples, including 208 finfish, 38 shrimp, 33 oysters, 15 crabs, 2 lobsters and 1 clam for possible oil contamination from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Except for finfish (at least 1.0 lb fillet), samples represent a composite of multiple organisms (10 crabs, 15 oysters, 0.5 lbs shrimp). All findings are well below the FDA’s levels of concern. See Table 1.

With $10 million in additional funding over the next three years, the DACS Division of Food Safety will enhance its laboratory capabilities to conduct seafood inspections in an effort to further restore public confidence in the safety of Gulf of Mexico seafood. In addition to PAH analyses, nearly half of the samples have also been screened for the dispersant dioctylsulfosucciante (DOSS). All findings for dispersant are also well below the FDA’s levels of concern. In the future, the laboratories will expand their screening of seafood to include metals.

Current analyses include PAH analyses using the liquid chromatography fluorescence screening and analysis of the dispersant, dioctylsulfosuccinate by liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy. Continued testing will assure the safety of Florida’s seafood for several years to come. As additional analyses are completed, detailed summaries will be posted. See Tables 2, 3 and 4.

Table 1: Summary of DACS Seafood PAH Analyses

Collection Dates: 8/1/2010 – 5/1/2011	Number of Samples				Range of Findings (mg/kg)
	Total	Number without Detections	Number with Detections	Number exceeding LOC*
Finfish	208	183	25	0	ND – 0.043
Shrimp	38	36	2	0	ND – Trace**
Oysters	33	25	8	0	ND - Trace
Crabs	15	15	0	0	ND
Lobster	2	2	0	0	ND
Clams	1	1	0	0	ND

* LOC = FDA’s Levels of Concern

**Trace = Finding greater than the level of detection but less than the level of quantitation

Table 2: PAH analyses by NOAA MS

Table 3: PAH analyses by LC Fluorescence

Table 4: Comparison of PAH analyses by LC Fluorescence and NOAA MS

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