Natural, untainted shrimp is an extremely healthy food, as it is abundant in protein, very low in fat, that is, 75 grams of protein for every 1 gram of fat.
Shrimps are loaded with omega 3- fatty acids, vitamin B12, and D.
However, this is not the case with numerous kinds of the shrimp sold in the U.S., as they have been harvested and raised in a completely different way.
Namely, one of the biggest importers of shrimp in America is Vietnam, with over 100 million pounds of shrimp annually, that is, almost 8% of all shrimp consumed in the United States.
In the last twenty years, the requirements of shrimp in the U.S. have gone increasingly high, which caused a competition in the market for seafood. Moreover, this situation has led to attempts to keep up with the competition, even if it demanded reduced safety and health standards.
Research has discovered that farmers who raise shrimp in Vietnam freeze it before it is exported to the United States, but in water that is not safe for consumption.
The microbiologist Mansour Samadpour, specialized in investigating water used for shellfish farming, claims that the water they use actually support the development of diseases and bacteria.
Samadpour states that: “Those conditions — ice made from dirty water, animals near the farms, pigs — are unacceptable.”
Yet, this is not the only food which is raised on low health regulation in Asia. Namely, the investigation has found a farm of tilapia in Yangjiang, China, uses feces from geese and pigs to feed their fish.
Michael Doyle, director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety, claims that this causes the growth of numerous bacterial disease. He says that:
“The manure the Chinese use to feed fish is frequently contaminated with microbes like salmonella.”
We are all aware of the fact that farmed seafood is much worse that the wild-caught one, as the farmed shellfish and fish are loaded with dangerous antibiotics.
Yet, a study by Consumer Report gave another reason to consume farmed seafood only, as they found that farmed shrimp has higher levels of dangerous bacteria along with antibiotics, giving us a new reason to avoid farmed seafood.
Farmed seafood is extremely high with bacteria and antibiotics, which can be understood if you consider the condition in which it is produced.
Despite all this, these animals are also crammed into tight spaces during their lifetime, which also supports the spread of disease throughout them.
One study, conducted on 342 frozen shrimp samples, found that 60% of them have either vibrio, listeria, salmonella, or E.coli. Moreover, researchers also discovered traces of sulfa antibiotics, oxytetracycline, and enrofloxacin in them.
Therefore, 94% of all imported shrimp sold in the U.S. originates from Asia, from countries like Vietnam, India, Thailand, or Indonesia. Yet, the farming conditions in these countries are extremely low and result in disease spread, and overuse of antibiotics.
Consumer Report also conducted a study which showed that raw, wild-caught shrimp from America contains the lowest amounts of bacteria of all examined samples.
Therefore, it is highly advisable that you avoid these kinds of fish, and consume local and wild-caught shellfish and fish, as even if it is cheaper, imported farmed seafood is extremely harmful as it is loaded with antibiotic residue and bacteria which endanger your health to a great extent.
