THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9409240255
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
Twenty-five fish markets have been caught violating food safety laws since the state's first program to inspect retail seafood businesses became effective in March.
Bob Gordon, director of the state Food and Drug Protection Division, said Tuesday problems cited by inspectors mostly have related to cleanliness, equipment deficiencies or problems with buildings.
Inspectors have evaluated 300 of the state's 600 seafood markets in the program's first six months, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Gordon and other North Carolina officials outlined the state's seafood inspection efforts at a hearing of the legislative commission on seafood and aquaculture.
He could not immediately specify the locations of the 25 markets cited so far but said violations had been found across the state. Inspectors have cited few problems with the quality of the markets' products, he said.
Now that the inspection program is under way, Gordon asked for the commission's support in seeking money in the upcoming legislative session to hire more inspectors to monitor fish wholesalers.
Wholesale dealers, who operate businesses reselling or shipping fish, have never been inspected, he said. Tightened federal regulations will require that the state begin a monitoring program in the next few years, he said.
Gordon said he will propose adding at least 14 staffers to the inspection and laboratory testing program, which could cost up to $1 million more yearly. The division has 26 inspectors stationed across the state. by CNB