AN INDEPENDENT study looking at both Gulf and Atlantic seafood samples of large shrimp, crabmeat and red grouper found no detectable amounts of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or dispersant ingredients, according to US website the Daily Beast, Under US Food and Drug Administration protocols, federal and state authorities each must determine that any patch of water is both free from oil and chemicals, both presently and in the near-term. Then, the state in question must submit an approved number of samples, where samples are given sensory testing (primarily, viewed and smelled) for oil, dispersants, or any type of contamination. From there, they are then sent to an FDA lab for confirmatory chemical testing. "We are confident in the process for reopening and protective controls that were developed and agreed to," Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the US FDA was quoted as saying. "However, we recognise that long-term efforts are required to ensure the safety of Gulf seafood, and remain vigilant in our continued collaboration with all state and federal agencies."

The positive results, independently compiled by the Daily Beast in partnership with the Environmental Systems Service, come at a time when local seafood vendors in the Gulf are calling for the American people to support the struggling economy. Currently, national demand for Gulf seafood has dropped off and demand is limited to the Gulf area. Said Sean Desporte, a distributor in the region, "We've been in business over

115 years, for five generations, we are hoping that people all around the US would like to try to help us get back to where we were."