Chamber and committees

Samples collected as part of the routine monitoring programme are sent to the FRS Marine Laboratory Aberdeen (FRS MLA) by first class post in containers provided for the purpose. Samples arrive within two days of posting. Samples are collected by chartered fishing vessels over fairly large areas. Samples may be caught and kept aboard the boat for 2-3 days before being landed. Once landed, they are immediately collected by FRS MLA staff and transported to Aberdeen. Testing is generally initiated on the day MLA receive the sample.

FRS Marine Laboratory Aberdeen cannot oversee the analysis being done by commercial companies. The Food Standards Agency contract out the statutory monitoring analysis and any laboratory may tender. All National Reference Laboratories, including FRS Marine Laboratory Aberdeen (the UK National Reference Laboratory), participate in comparative analysis trials.

In an attempt to provide a representative sample, 10-12 gonads from different scallops are amalgamated.

The Food Standards Agency has advised me that algal blooms are natural, cyclic phenomena, and are believed to be influenced by a number of factors including environment, light, temperature, chemical nutrients and the abundance of herbivorous animals and fish grazing on the algae. Research into this issue is currently taking place and the Food Standards Agency has announced that nearly £1 million will be spent on algal toxins, including their causes, over the next three years. Given the nature of the phyto plankton community, the possibility of developing deterrent measures seems unlikely at present. However, it is anticipated that this research may assist in helping predict the likely severity and duration of amnesic shellfish poisoning incidents.

The Food Standards Agency ensures that all information relating to the incidence of high levels of algal toxins is conveyed accurately and rapidly to the relevant parties. Food and Environment Protection Act Orders (closures and revocations) are completed as quickly as possible. Meetings with officials and visits to the Fisheries Research Services Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen, have been arranged for industry representatives, and a comparative test between products from a commercial processor and the Marine Laboratory has been carried out to allow consideration of claims from industry that toxicity may be reduced by processing.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) inform fisheries organisations and other interested parties when a Food and Environment Protection Act (FEPA) Order is being drafted by the Scottish Executive, following results above the statutory limit for algal toxins. This provides advanced warning of impending closures ahead of the Orders coming into force. Industry officials then communicate this information to fishermen at sea. The FSA has expanded the list of organisations and individuals to whom this information is communicated directly, but industry has also been asked to make suggestions on how communication links might be improved. Updates are also available via the agency's telephone hotline and website.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-09757.

High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is used to analyse shellfish samples for domoic acid, the chemical causing amnesic shellfish poison (ASP). The toxin is extracted from prepared samples using aqueous methanol, then partially purified and fully isolated from the purified extract by pumping through an absorbent column within the HPLC machine. Chromatographic techniques separate domoic acid from compounds such as lipids, fatty acids, amino acids etc present in the extract. Finally, the toxin is quantified and identified by ultraviolet spectrometric detection, by comparison with standard reference domoic acid. The procedure meets EU requirements and is United Kingdom Accreditation Service UKAS accredited. The standard deviation of domoic acid analyses undertaken in a recent inter-laboratory comparison exercise covering the UK and Ireland was <12.5%. FRS Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen currently test approximately 100-150 shellfish samples per week for ASP.

The Food Standards Agency has advised me that it is not known why some species appear to accumulate toxins more readily than others do. Toxins from the phytoplankton on which the molluscs feed accumulate in the animals. Once the intake of toxin producers ceases, the molluscs metabolise the toxins and eliminate them from their tissues. Scallops appear to have a much slower rate of elimination than other mussels and queens, meaning the toxins are retained for longer periods.

The FRS Marine Laboratory Aberdeen (FRS MLA) has analysed 1,698 samples of bivalve mollusc for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), 1,284 for diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) and 1,969 for amnesic shellfish poisoning between 1 January and 31 October 2000. This composed of:

1. Total samples of all scallops tested: i) 1,050 ASP; ii) 322 PSP, and iii) 77 DSP.
2. Queens scallops accounted for: i) 81 ASP; ii) 71 PSP, and iii) 72 DSP.

Given the aim to minimise the period for which boxes remain closed through intensifying monitoring as boxes approach safe limits, the Food Standards Agency estimates that some 80% come from areas subject to controls under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. No other toxins are monitored.