Importer C&T Produce Wholesale Inc., which conducts business as L&V Food Supply, is recalling around 1,152 pounds of peppered, frozen dried catfish.
The catfish was produced by an unidentified company in Vietnam that is not eligible to export products to the U.S., the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said, adding that the products were not presented for import reinspection into the U.S.
The 2-pound cardboard boxes labeled “Peppered Dried CATFISH,” imported by Houston, Texas, U.S.A.-based C&T, were shipped to retail locations in the U.S. states of California, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.
The problem was discovered during routine FSIS surveillance activities of imported products at a retail store in California, the FSIS said.
There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consuming the products, but FSIS is concerned that some products may have made into consumer hands already.
“Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase,” the FSIS said.
The USDA took over inspecting catfish imports in the beginning of 2019, causing a series of catfish product recalls due to companies confusing which agency was in charge of regulating the product.
Starting in January 2019, H&T Seafood recalled more than 71,000 pounds of frozen wild sheat catfish from Vietnam, then Maxfield Seafood recalled around 55,300 pounds, McAllen Cold Storage recalled approximately 52,000 pounds, and Fulton Seafood recalled more than 100,000 pounds of catfish.
More recently, Huntington Beach, California, U.S.A.-based NAIL Factory recalled around 1,635 pounds of frozen catfish products because they were not eligible to be imported to the U.S. from Vietnam, according to the USDA.
