Due to health concerns, consumers are more mindful of the foods they eat. The most important thing consumers need to know is that Texas Gulf shrimp is free of antibiotics and other harmful chemicals that have a history of being present in imported farm-raised shrimp. Texas Gulf shrimp is wild caught and not subjected to the methods used in producing farm raised shrimp.
Approximately 90 percent of the shrimp in the US comes from foreign shrimp farms. Unfortunately, these foreign farms are not regulated by the same laws that US shrimp farms must follow. A foreign farm might harvest as many as 170,000 shrimp in a 1-acre pond that is 1-2 meters deep. Due to this density, the waste the shrimp swim in, and their susceptibility to disease, many farm-raised shrimp ponds in these countries potentially use antibiotics.
The most common antibiotic used in foreign shrimp farms is chloramphenicol, which is used to reduce the growth of bacteria and disease. A variety of poisons are also used to clean the ponds instead of flushing out water and refilling the ponds with clean water.