Eased Rules On Chemical Hearten Fish Farmers

CANADA - British Columbia's salmon-farming industry is welcoming a decision by Health Canada to relax its rules and allow trace levels of a controversial chemical, malachite green, in fish products for human consumption.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency relaxed its zero-tolerance policy on Tuesday and said it will now allow malachite green, a potential carcinogen, up to a level of 1 part per billion in domestic and imported seafood, including farmed and wild fish.

The agency said the ruling is temporary, pending further research. However, the decision has given some breathing room to the West Coast fishery, which had worried that a zero-tolerance policy would harm fish farming and commercial fishing.

In a news release, Health Canada said it had conducted a scientific assessment on the risk to public health associated with trace levels of MG, and had concluded that "the probability of serious adverse health consequences associated with the daily consumption of fish containing trace amounts of malachite green...is remote."

Source: The Globe and Mail