NO IMPORT… Walvis Bay oysters exported to Hong Kong are being 'kept on ice' until cadmium levels are satisfactory.
The Chairman of the Namibian Mariculture Association, Henning du Plessis, confirmed this to The Namibian on Saturday.
“They did find high levels of cadmium in the samples and have stopped imports from Namibia to Hong Kong for the time being,” he said, adding that Hong Kong (after South Africa) was a very important market for Namibian produced oysters.
The CFS issued a press release on 24 December titled 'Raw oyster sample found to contain cadmium over legal limit again'.
A CFS spokesman said that the raw oyster sample detected with excessive cadmium this time, and the unsatisfactory sample taken from the same premises during an earlier test, were both harvested from Walvis Bay.
Upon confirmation of the source of the concerned food, the CFS has suspended import of oysters from Walvis Bay Harbour since 23 December and continued surveillance of oysters imported from Namibia at retail level.
“The CFS has notified the Namibian authorities of the test results and its decisions. Unless the CFS is satisfied with investigation and control measures taken by the Namibian authorities, the relevant import restriction will not be lifted,” the statement read.
According to the press release, the CFS the samples were taken from the same factory.
"The CFS, following up on an unsatisfactory raw oyster sample from a licensed food factory named Ocean Party at Kailey Industrial Centre, 12 Fung Yip Street, Chai Wan, took another raw oyster sample from the premises for testing. Results showed that the sample contained cadmium at a level of 3,4 parts per million (ppm), exceeding the legal limit of 2 ppm," said the spokesman.
According to CFS the occasional consumption of oysters with cadmium (a heavy metal) at the detected level will not cause adverse health effects to consumers. However, adverse impact on the kidneys and bones cannot be ruled out over long term consumption.
The CFS said it would inform the person-in-charge of the food factory of the test result and instruct him to stop sale of the affected oysters. The CFS will also alert the trade of the incident and continue to follow up on the case.
Attempts to get comments from the Namibia Standards Institute; the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Bernhard Esau and his Permanent Secretary Ulitala Hiveluah were unsuccessful.