Contaminated Korean molluscan shellfish -- oysters, clams, mussels
and scallops
FDA
recommends getting rid of these products
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[May 22, 2012]
SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois Department
of Public Health is encouraging the public to throw out any oysters,
clams, mussels or scallops from Korea that you have in your
refrigerator or freezer. The Food and Drug Administration found
significant problems, including:
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Ineffective
management of land-based pollution sources that can affect
shellfish-growing areas.
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Inadequate
sanitary controls to prevent the discharge of human fecal waste
from fish farms and commercial fishing and aquaculture vessels
operating in and adjacent to shellfish-growing areas.
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Detection of norovirus in
shellfish-growing areas analyzed by FDA during the evaluation.
Because of inadequate sanitation controls, the molluscan
shellfish harvested from Korean waters may have been exposed to
human fecal waste and have the potential to be contaminated with
norovirus. Importation of molluscan shellfish harvested from
polluted waters in Korea was stopped May 1.
Korean molluscan shellfish that entered the United States prior
to May 1 and any product made with Korean molluscan shellfish are
considered adulterated. The FDA recommends that food distributors,
retailers and food service operators get rid of all fresh, frozen
and processed Korean molluscan shellfish and any product
subsequently made with them. The FDA is currently working to
determine the distribution of the product.
Consumers who have recently bought molluscan shellfish and are
concerned it may have come from Korea should contact the store from
which it was purchased and ask where the shellfish were harvested.
Product from Korea should not be consumed.
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Noroviruses are a group of related viruses that affect the
intestinal tract, causing gastroenteritis illness. Symptoms usually
occur between 24 hours and 48 hours after exposure and include
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, body aches, headache,
tiredness and low-grade fever. Symptoms typically last a day or two
and subside on their own. Norovirus is usually not life-threatening
and does not generally cause long-term effects.
No U.S. illnesses from the consumption of Korean shellfish have
been reported in 2012.
[Text from
Illinois Department of Public Health
file received from the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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