The FSANZ Draft Standard for PPP of Seafood does not mandate the use of ‘SANITARY ‘ equipment in these circumstances it states that equipment must be ‘CLEAN’. The yabby grower in Victoria at this stage remains uninformed as to the level of sanitary requirements that will be required under Primesafe to collect animals out of a dam and move them from one to another or to a purge system or to another growers purge system for what ever purposes.
The Primesafe requirements do not provide the adequate cost benefit ratio where it comes to protecting the health of the public nor do the Primesafe proposals adequately reflect the nature of the product, the process of yabby growing, nor the current market (i.e. they are sold as a live animal) these measures do not apply to other live seafood unless they are a Shellfish.
Chemical Risks
Background levels of Chemicals normally found in sea environments do not affect yabbies with FSANZ already identifying yabbies as the safest seafood with less heavy metals than rock lobster.
Cadmium and mercury in our inland waters is much lower than in as in the sea as shown in the National Residue Surveys. Moreover AQIS have no concerns with yabbies from this point of view as indicated through the results of the last National Residue Survey. All other chemicals that are used in agriculture have withholding times and recommended uses. As long as farmers and growers of primary production comply with this use there is no issue with any live farm animal. This is also supported by the ‘Risk Assessment of Pesticides for Yabby Farmers April 2004’ conducted by Victorian fisheries.
