The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the imports of salmon produced in Chile by Norwegian multinational firm Marine Harvest after a carcinogenic chemical known as crystal violet was detected in a shipment.
Crystal violet is used to destroy fungi in the tannery industry. However, its presence in food is banned in the Chile, US as well as in the European Union. Studies conducted on this chemical revealed that its exposure leads to carcinogenic effects in animals.
Marine Harvest Americas sales and marketing director Gianfranco Nattero said that the company is checking food, processing stage and packaging phase to identify the source of crystal violet.
Marine Harvest does not use crystal violet, and the company's own analysis and that of official Chilean bodies did not detect it in the salmon, Nattero added.
Meanwhile, Marine Harvest has sent samples to independent laboratories, and expects to receive the results of the analysis over the next ten days.
