The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat certain ASSI Brand frozen oysters from Korea, following an outbreak of illness in Washington state caused by norovirus.
The frozen oyster meat (shucked, not in shell), is packed in 3lb bags. Each bag is labelled ASSI Brand “INDIVIDUALLY QUICK FROZEN OYSTER” with a “Better if Used By” date of “2013.02.232.” Each bag identifies Central Fisheries Co. Ltd., as the packer and Korean Farms of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., as the distributor. Korean Farms has voluntarily agreed to recall these oysters.
The individual bags are shipped in boxes of 10 bags each with the lot number C-110223, appearing on each shipping carton, along with a “SHUCKED DATE: 2011.02.24.
These oysters, which were served in a Washington state restaurant and were eaten by three people who became ill, have been sampled and tested positive by FDA for norovirus genotypes I and II.
There have been no reports of hospitalisations or deaths resulting from consuming the frozen oysters.
Records indicate that this product was shipped to the states of Washington, California, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Alaska, Idaho, and Utah.
The FDA is advising those who have recently purchased these oysters not to eat them, and to safely dispose of them.
Norovirus causes acute gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines). The most common symptoms are nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, and stomach pain. The illness often begins suddenly and norovirus can make people feel extremely ill with frequent vomiting and diarrhoea. Most people get better within one to two days. Dehydration can be a problem among some people with norovirus infection, especially the very young, the elderly, and people with other illnesses.
Norovirus is highly contagious.
