Canadian Salmon

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32354, 21 July 1970, Page 14

Canadian Salmon

Sir,—l was amazed to hear Ron Watson on television on Tuesday night say that the Canadian salmon was containinated by DDT. As much tinned salmon is imported from Canada, 1 would like to know if this has been tested for D DT. If not, is It safe foi human consumption?— Yours, etc., S. LANE. June 11 1970. [Dr D. A. Andrews, Deputy Medical Officer of Health, Christchurch, replies: “The Department of Health knows of no reason why Canadian salmon should not be eaten. Minute quantities of DDT are found in most fish, animals, and birds, even m seals and penguins in polar regions Illness due to consuming food containing a few parts per million of D.DT is unknown. It should be taken into consideration that DDT has been responsible for vast benefits to man in helping to eradicate diseases borne by insects such as malaria It has also helped immeasurably in Increasing food production in a world where two-thirds of the world’s population is estimated to be hungry The present worldwide move to abandon the use of D.D.T. is based more on long-term dangers to certain species of wild life than any possible dangers to human health.”]