(IntraFish) The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is urging food distributors, retailers, and food service operators to remove all fresh, frozen, canned, and processed molluscan shellfish (oysters, clams, mussels, and whole and roe-on scallops) from South Korea.
This includes molluscan shellfish from Korea that entered the United States prior to May 1, 2012, when the FDA removed such products from the Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List (ICSSL).
After the FDA ban, a number of food companies began to remove these products from their distribution chain, but many others have yet to take action, said the FDA.
According to the agency, the recalled products may have been exposed to human fecal waste and are potentially contaminated with norovirus.
The FDA’s evaluation found significant deficiencies with the Korean Shellfish Sanitation Program (KSSP) including inadequate sanitary controls, ineffective management of land-based pollution sources and detection of norovirus in shellfish growing areas.
Fresh and frozen shellfish from other shellfish shippers listed in the ICSSL are not affected by the ban.
The FDA said it is in ongoing discussions with Korean authorities to resolve the issue.
While there have been norovirus illnesses in the United States from the consumption of Korean oysters as recently as 2011, there have been no US illnesses from the consumption of Korean shellfish reported in 2012.