The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday issued its sternest warning yet against the consumption of mollusks imported from Korea.
The agency is urging seafood distributors, retailers and foodservice operators to halt sales of all fresh, frozen, canned and processed oysters, clams, mussels and whole and roe-on scallops from Korea, including product that entered the United States prior to 1 May, when the FDA removed such products from the Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List (ICSSL).
Last month, the FDA said Korea’s shellfish sanitation program no longer meets the sanitation controls spelled out under the United States’ National Shellfish Sanitation Program. An FDA investigation found significant deficiencies with the Korea’s program, including inadequate sanitary controls, ineffective management of land-based pollution sources and detection of norovirus in shellfish-growing areas. Norovirus causes vomiting or diarrhea.
No illnesses from eating Korean mollusks have been reported in the United States this year.
The FDA advisory is being widely reported by the mainstream media in the United States, including an Associated Press article that’s been picked up by dozens of news outlets.
