Reducing Fish Waste by Cutting Down on Antibiotic Residues

The middle part of a food chain is made up of small and medium businesses that move products from farmers to stores. In China, this “hidden middle” often hides safety problems and lets food waste grow. Researchers looked at data from 247 regions in China, covering the years 2015 to 2022. They focused on antibiotics that can remain in fish and other aquatic foods. When these drugs are found above the legal limit, they not only harm people but also cause a huge amount of food to be thrown away. The study found that in six provinces, antibiotic levels beyond the safe limit led to 44, 200 tons of fish being lost. The health risks in those places were also higher than what authorities consider safe.To tackle the problem, the team built a mathematical model that tells where to test food most effectively. Using this plan, they could cut the waste by 14, 702 tons and lower health risks by about 77 %. Compared with the way China currently checks food, the new strategy saves an extra 6, 951 tons of fish each year and reduces risks by a further 17 % in every province. These results show that if regulators pay special attention to how antibiotics spread through the hidden middle of supply chains, they can keep food safer and help protect both public health and food security.