New Jersey-based seafood distributor True World Foods has been cleared of blame in reference to a hepatitis A outbreak that has afflicted more than 200 Hawaiians thus far this summer.
The Hawaii Department of Health withdrew initial reports implicating True World Foods when it discovered that the raw Sea Port Bay Scallops responsible for the outbreak – which were provided to Genki Sushi restaurants on Oahu and Kauai – were supplied by a different distributor. While True World Foods does indeed purchase Sea Port Bay Scallops, the company has not shipped compromised lots of the product from its warehouse.
"The scallops received by True World Foods have not been distributed to any restaurants in the state and were embargoed at their warehouse," according to the Hawaii Department of Health's website.
"This incident marks the first time in our 38-year history that seafood distributed by True World Foods has been linked to hepatitis A contamination, despite the fact that we sold 34 million pounds of seafood last year," added Robert Bleu, president of True World Foods. "Food safety is a top priority at our company, and we are continually monitoring our suppliers, processes and procedures to protect the health of every consumer who eats at any of our customer sites."
True World is destroying all potentially contaminated scallops from the Philippines at its Hawaii-based facility with the help of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); none of the scallops at True World Foods' 22 other warehouses in the U.S. come from the lots implicated in the outbreak, said the company in a press release. However, as a precaution, True World has suspended the sale of any seafood products produced by the Philippines-based scallop supplier in question until an internal food safety investigation is complete.
The wild-caught, contaminated scallops were processed by De Oro Resources Incorporated, located in Suba Basbas, Philippines, and were imported by Sea Port Products Corporation, located in Washington state. The products were packaged in raw frozen form.
While the specific cause of the contamination has yet to be determined, the products were likely compromised before either True World Foods or the other distributor received them, said the company, because the scallops arrived in sealed packages that are case-packed in a freezer without any additional processing undergone at the distributor level. Had the scallops been cooked to a temperature of 185°F rather than served raw, the outbreak would have likely been avoided, said True World.
Access more details about the outbreak here: http://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Outbreaks/ucm517289.htm
