FDA urged to recall Korean shellfish

The Federal Food and Drug Administration requested to withdraw the sale of shellfish imported from South Korea, fearing a possible contamination with norovirus.

Food distributors, retailers and foodservice operators should stop selling and working with all products of oysters, clams, mussels and scallops, whole or roe-whether fresh, frozen, canned or processed, coming from South Korea.

The order includes molluscs Koreans entered the United States before 1 May when the FDA recalled the product from the list of providers Interstate Shellfish Certificates (ICSSL), and those who may have entered after that date. These products and other prepared they may have been exposed to human fecal waste and, therefore, be contaminated with norovirus.

The FDA considers these contaminated shellfish are adulterated under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

While several companies started to withdraw products within the distribution chain just received the first reports last month, many still did not take action.

"We want to ensure that all food entering the U.S. are fit for consumption, "said FDA spokesman Curtis Allen, according to the Associated Press.

After conducting a thorough evaluation, the agency found that the Shellfish Sanitation Program Korean (KSSP) no longer meets the health checks of the National Shellfish Health. The FDA found major deficiencies in the KSSP, such as inadequate sanitary controls, mismanagement of land-based pollution sources and detection of norovirus in shellfish growing areas.

These deficiencies led to the federal agency to withdraw from the list all suppliers ICSS Korean seafood certified on May 1.

Consumers who have recently bought seafood and determined to come from Korea should eliminate them, as well as any products derived from them, the FDA recommended.

The measure, said the agency has no effect on fresh and frozen shellfish distributors, retailers and foodservice operators of any other supplier of seafood ICSSL list. The FDA maintains ongoing discussions with the Korean authorities to resolve the issue.

Norovirus causes gastroenteritis. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps. In addition, affected individuals may experience episodes of fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and fatigue within 12 to 48 hours after exposure to the virus and, in general, the disease lasts for one to three days.

The FDA noted that there were cases of norovirus poisoning in the U.S. by the Korean oyster consumption last year, but no cases in 2012.