TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida has just about used up its $10 million from BP for seafood testing following the oil spill in 2010.

Florida's food safety laboratory has been testing seafood since August 2010 -- just months after the spill started -- and that work will continue for one more year before the BP money runs out.

The Chemical Residue Laboratory examines samples from the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Atlantic. It has tested more than 2,300 finfish and shellfish for any signs of contamination from oil or dispersant over the past two years.

Bureau Chief Jo Marie Cook says not a single sample has tested above the FDA's levels of concern.

She says most samples are about 500 times below the FDA's levels of concern.

"Over 95 percent of all of our seafood, we have no findings but the few findings that we do have are well, well below those levels of concern. We really don't feel that we have any concerns whatsoever for oil contamination or dispersant."

Florida still has about $1.5 million from the BP deal to continue the special seafood testing program until October 2013.

Cook says the food safety lab will keep all the specialized testing equipment purchased with the BP cash, so the lab could continue testing seafood if necessary.

"But right now, there doesn't seem to be a need because we're not really detecting anything."

You can see the specific seafood lab results online at: http://www.freshfromflorida.com/fs/seafood_intro_2011-03-28.html

First Coast News