Shells along the Norwegian coast have low concentrations of E. coli, heavy metals and other undesirable substances. It shows the results from the annual monitoring of bacteria and environmental toxins in mussels from production areas and mussel samples taken in connection with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority’s mussel warning.
| What did we investigate? | Mussels, scallops, flat oysters, Pacific oysters, cow mussels, O-mussels, carpet mussels, king snails and Drøbakkråkebolle. |
| Period: | 2019 |
| What were we looking for? | E. coli, Salmonella and the environmental toxins cadmium, mercury, dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs, as well as polyaromatic hydrocarbons. |
| What did we find? | About 90 percent of all submitted mussels were below the limit of E. coli and there were no detections of Salmonella. A total of 453 E. coli samples and 26 salmonella samples were analyzed.
Mussels: All examined mussels were below the limits for environmental toxins. Scallops: No excesses of environmental toxins in muscle and gonads. Flat oysters: Cadmium was detected above the limit value in two samples. O-shells and king snails: The heavy metal cadmium was, as in previous years, proven well above the limit value. The majority of heavy metals, such as cadmium and lead, have previously been localized to the kidneys. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority therefore recommends that the kidneys be removed before consumption, so that edible parts fall well below the limit values. |
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