Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.A.-based seafood wholesaler Quality Poultry & Seafood has announced a recall for nearly 100,000 pounds of catfish products after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) determined that the fillets were produced without being inspected.
According to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the various catfish fillets were produced between 2 and 5 September, shipped to restaurants and retail locations in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and were sold from the establishment’s retail store.
“The problem was discovered when the establishment notified FSIS that they were producing catfish products and FSIS determined they were produced without inspection,” FSIS explained in a release. “There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about a reaction should contact a healthcare provider.”
The government has urged consumers and restaurants that have purchased the select products to not serve them and instead throw them away or return them to the place of purchase.
Quality Poultry & Seafood was recently banned from importing seafood by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after the Biloxi company was convicted of falsely selling imported seafood as a domestic-caught product. The wholesaler admitted to conspiring to mislabel foreign-sourced seafood in order to sell it as a more expensive locally sourced fish. The company was fined and placed on probation, one employee was sentenced to jail, and another was fined and placed on probation.
