Science Snippet: Shrimp is America’s Favorite Seafood

Shrimp is now the most popular seafood in America, with each person eating about four lbs. a year. About 90 percent of our shrimp supply is imported, mostly from India, Thailand and Indonesia. Some of these “foreign-born” crustaceans are farmed in poorly maintained lagoons that are often laced with antibiotics. Also, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cites deplorable conditions in some of the processing plants, and the trip across the ocean often results in shrimp arriving in American ports in marginal shape. If you buy shrimp, ask about their origin and try to buy them in a bag that says “I.Q.F.” Such shrimp are individually quick or “flash” frozen. The Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and Alaska produce great shrimp. It is best to buy shrimp in the shell, which protects the meat, and peeled shrimp are sometimes treated with a chemical preservative. (K. Severson, The New York Times, Aug. 5, 2014)