Crayfish sell briskly in the Shenzhen market, with booming sales
After this newspaper reported that 5 Shenzhen citizens developed rhabdomyolysis after eating crayfish, yesterday two 16-year-old girls in Guangzhou were also suspected of being “struck down” by eating crayfish. On August 10, reporters visited the Futian agricultural wholesale market and found that although crayfish have frequently “caused trouble” recently, the public's enthusiasm for crayfish remains undiminished, and sales are still booming.
Crayfish remain “popular” on the market
Yesterday, reporters visited the Futian agricultural wholesale market. In the fresh food trading area, many stalls were seen piled with crayfish, and citizens buying crayfish came in an endless stream, seemingly unaffected by the “crayfish allergy” incidents that have frequently broken out in recent days.
“In the past few days, there are still many people buying crayfish, and sales are no different from before.” A vendor was busy carrying out boxes of crayfish. He told reporters that their crayfish are generally purchased from Hubei, and some crayfish also come from Hunan, with prices at about 28 yuan—38 yuan/jin. As for the number of crayfish sold each day, many vendors said they sell too many every day to keep count.
Recently, citizens have repeatedly been suspected of developing rhabdomyolysis from eating too much crayfish. Is this caused by crayfish being unclean? Another vendor picked up a crayfish and, pointing to its belly, told reporters: “Crayfish have sand from the belly to the head, because crayfish grow in lakes, so it is inevitable that there will be sand in their bodies. So it is actually safer when citizens buy crayfish with a little sand, which shows they have not been washed with shrimp-washing powder.”
How should crayfish containing sand be handled? He said you only need to wash the crayfish in a basin of clean water with a little salt and white vinegar added, then rinse twice with clean water, and the crayfish will be very clean.
Among the citizens randomly interviewed by reporters, most said they knew about the “crayfish allergy” news and would pay more attention when eating crayfish in the future, but quite a few also said they often eat crayfish and are not worried about allergies. One citizen bought 15 jin of crayfish on the spot. She said that if she buys them, takes them home, washes them clean and cooks them thoroughly, she will eat them with greater safety and peace of mind.
17 crayfish samples pass spot checks
The scientific name of crayfish is Procambarus clarkii. It originated in the Americas and was only introduced to China in the 1930s. Crayfish meat is delicious, high in protein, low in fat, and rich in calcium, phosphorus and iron, and is deeply welcomed by the general public. Because of the repeated “crayfish allergy” incidents, crayfish have taken the most hits, so are crayfish actually safe?
According to Liu Xiayang, PhD, of the Food and Drug Safety Research Institute of the Shenzhen Institute of Standards and Technology, crayfish are aquatic food products, and inspection is carried out in accordance with national standards such as the Hygienic Standard for Fresh and Frozen Animal Aquatic Products, the Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods, and the Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides in Food.
According to the 2015 food supervision and spot check information (13th issue) published by the Guangdong Provincial Food and Drug Administration, the administration conducted spot checks on 17 crayfish samples from Shenzhen (including crayfish and fresh crayfish). The results showed that no problems were found in indicators such as lead, cadmium, methylmercury, inorganic arsenic, malachite green, chloramphenicol, nitrofuran metabolites (AMOZ, AOZ, AHD, SEM), and synthetic colorants in the samples, and all 17 samples were qualified.
Experts say rhabdomyolysis has many triggers
Since crayfish pass spot checks, how then should the development of rhabdomyolysis from eating them be explained? It is reported that rhabdomyolysis is a clinical condition caused by statin drugs used to treat high blood lipids. Patients show obvious systemic or localized muscle pain reactions, with elevated hemoglobin, myoglobin and muscle enzymes, and no fever, and in severe cases kidney function can be severely impaired.
In fact, there are many causes of rhabdomyolysis syndrome. A 2000 U.S. research report showed that a variety of aquatic products carry the possibility of causing rhabdomyolysis, and certain freshwater fish can also cause unexplained rhabdomyolysis syndrome (also known as Haff disease), and it has seasonal and regional characteristics.
Dr. Liu Xiayang advised that people using statin lipid-lowering drugs should not eat crayfish, because this type of drug itself can directly cause rhabdomyolysis. In addition, crayfish are a high-purine food, so people with hyperuricemia and gout should not eat crayfish, as frequent consumption will worsen the patient's condition.
Zhou Qidi, deputy director of the emergency department of Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, also reminded citizens that most people will not develop rhabdomyolysis symptoms, but once symptoms such as general soreness, fatigue, swelling, and soy-sauce-colored urine appear after eating crayfish, they should seek medical attention as soon as possible. More importantly, people with a history of developing rhabdomyolysis from eating aquatic products had better not eat crayfish again.