美国：关于墨西哥湾海鲜嗅觉检测的争论

    食品伙伴网报道，据美国食品安全新闻网8月5的消息，美国民众，甚至包括那些在墨西哥湾畔以捕鱼为生的居民，对官方采取的“嗅觉检测”的方法来检测墨西哥湾海鲜表示担忧。

    美国政府报告称：“嗅觉检测”是检测海鲜是否可供食用的重要环节。官员称：“进行检测的科学家是经过专门训练的，他们可以检测到分散剂和石油的味道，但是这种测试方法却受到了墨西哥湾畔渔民的质疑，虽然他们是要依赖政府提升国民对海湾海鲜的信心而维持生计的。
 

    Rusty Graybill，墨西哥湾畔的一个渔民，谈及对政府这种检测方法的疑虑时，他说：“如果我把鱼放进一桶水里，再在上面浇上石油和清洁剂，然后将这些东西混合，这种鱼，你会吃么？我不会让你或者我的家人吃这种鱼的，我怕有人会生病。”

    52岁的Ryan Lambert，一个拥有渔业捕捞执照的船长也认为渔业不该这么迅速的恢复，他要求专家们出示更多的数据。“我对他们的检测方法没有信心。”他补充说。

    Lambert和Graybill代表许多渔民和消费者的观点，他们不能确定墨西哥湾海产品的安全性。

    John Stein，墨西哥湾海产品安全计划的负责人，周二被NPR采访时说，每天政府都对渔业状况进行评估，并决定是否继续封闭水域或者决定对海产品进行检测，并可能将水域重新开放。在决定渔业捕捞区域重新开放时，联邦政府会考虑多方面检测数据的。而对海产品进行检测中的一个环节--嗅觉检测，的确是存在争议的，官方称之为“感官分析”，而它仅仅是作为一系列测试中的一部分，这一系列检测也包括实验室中的化学分析，而这些所有的检测互为补充，以精确的分析该海产品的安全性。他还说，有争议的检测“嗅觉检测”不是为了检测浮油而单设出的检测方法，这种方法在食品工业中也被广泛的应用。

    路易斯安那州州长于周一拜访了英国石油公司，以建立一个20年的检测鉴定计划基金，已恢复各界对海湾海鲜的信心。

    本报道由食品伙伴网编译整理，供食品行业相关人士参考，希望对我国大连原油污染问题的顺利解决有所帮助，详细内容以国外原文报道为准。

    原文地址：http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/08/the-controversial-seafood-sniff-test/

    原文报道：

The Controversial Seafood 'Sniff Test'

by Laurel Curran | Aug 05, 2010
The government has reported that the "sniff test" is an important part of determining whether seafood is safe to eat. Officials say that the scientists doing the sniffing are specially trained to detect the scent of both oil and dispersant. But the sniff method has been raising doubts even among those whose livelihoods depend on restoring national confidence in gulf seafood.

Rusty Graybill, a fisherman in the gulf, spoke about his doubts in the government's testing methods.

"If I put fish in a barrel of water and poured oil and Dove detergent over that, and mixed it up, would you eat that fish?" asked Graybill. "I wouldn't feed it to you or my family. I'm afraid someone's going to get sick," reported FoodManufacturing.com.

Ryan Lambert, 52, a charter fishing captain also does not think fishing should resume so quickly, calling for more data from the experts.

"I have no confidence in their testing methods," Lambert said.

Lambert and Graybill represent the views of many fishermen and consumers who are unsure about the safety of gulf seafood.

John Stein, head of the seafood safety program in the Gulf, was interviewed on NPR Tuesday. He explained that each day the government assesses the fishing situation and decides whether or not to keep the grounds closed or decides to test the food and potentially reopen them. When considering re-opening a fishing area federal agencies take into account a multi-faceted test.

One of the steps of this test is indeed the controversial "sniff test", officially referred to as a "sensory analysis." He says that this test is only one part of a series of tests, including laboratory chemical analysis, all of which collaborate to accurately analyze the safety of the seafood.

Stein said of the controversial test, "This test is not something unique to this oil spill situation. It is a method that is used widely throughout the food industry." In terms of the seafood that undergoes the test he said, "If it passes then it will be put to a chemistry test and it must pass this to be deemed safe."

In terms of getting the word out that this and other mandatory tests do indeed insure the safety of the food, "You always can do more," Stein said.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called on BP Monday to fund a 20-year testing and certification program to restore confidence in seafood from the Gulf.