FDA finds short weight in 12 of 26 imported frozen seafood samples
Twelve of 26 imported frozen seafood samples tested by the FDA contained less seafood than their labels declared, according to a report published October 23. The shipments were sampled in 2025 before release into U.S. commerce, making the findings evidence from a defined import-surveillance assignment rather than a measure of every product on American supermarket shelves.
News date: 2026-10-23 · Checked: 2026-10-24 (Asia/Bangkok)
Twelve of 26 imported frozen seafood samples tested by the FDA contained less seafood than their labels declared, according to a report published October 23. The shipments were sampled in 2025 before release into U.S. commerce, making the findings evidence from a defined import-surveillance assignment rather than a measure of every product on American supermarket shelves.
Three key points
- FDA tested 26 samples collected from May 20 through September 25, 2025.
- Twelve samples were found violative; shortages ranged from 1.42% to 32.75%.
- All 12 associated shipments were refused entry, and implicated firms and products were placed on Import Alert 99-47.
The label must exclude protective ice
The assignment examined retail packages of frozen raw and cooked seafood. FDA laboratories measured the seafood after removing its ice glaze, using a drained-weight procedure. Protective glaze is a normal part of frozen storage, but its weight cannot be counted as seafood in the declared net quantity.
The 26 samples came from 25 firms in nine countries. Each sample comprised 48 individual packages taken from the same lot. The reported 46% violation figure describes those 26 samples, not 46% of all imported seafood or of U.S. retail sales. FDA also cautioned against country-to-country comparisons because the assignment was not designed for them.
What the import action changes
FDA said all 12 violative shipments were refused entry. The associated products and firms were added to an import alert permitting detention without physical examination. Admission of affected future shipments requires evidence overcoming the apparent violation, such as third-party laboratory results showing adequate net weight.
The findings concern quantity and economic adulteration. They do not establish that every item from the affected countries is unsafe, and the report does not identify the archive photograph used with this article as a tested product. This sampling report is separate from the agency’s proposed guidance on voluntary U.S.-origin seafood statements.
