Thousands of pounds of fish have been recalled, but not because of typical contamination reasons. Yumei Foods USA on June 13 recalled more than 9,000 pounds of Siluriformes products. The fish products were imported from China, which, according to a release by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), is considered to be a “country ineligible to export processed Siluriformes products to the United States.”
The recall affects approximately 9,370 pounds of imported Siluriformes products. The specific product included in the recall are 13.051 oz., or 370 gram, plastic packages containing “FISH FILLET WITH SPICY SOUP” Freeze Dried Technology Fish with “No Preservative” and 12.35 oz., or 350 gram, plastic packages containing “FISH FILLET WITH PICKLED SOUP” Freeze Dried Technology Fish with “No Preservative.” The recalled fish products were shipped to retail and wholesale locations nationwide and do not bear an establishment number nor a USDA mark of inspection. Consumers are urged not to consume these products and instead throw them or away or return them to the place of purchase.
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The recall was issued after routine FSIS surveillance activity of imported products discovered the Siluriformes products were imported from the People’s Republic of China. Per the FSIS’ release, “China is eligible to import raw Siluriformes products into the United States, but not processed or ready to eat Siluriformes products.” Due to the recalled products being processed Siluriformes products, they were considered ineligible to export to the United States from China and thus recalled. However, there have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products
This marks the latest recall of fish to hit the market and comes after health officials in the UK confirmed that three people have died in an ongoing Listeria outbreak linked to fish. An investigation into the outbreak began in April when the UK Health Security Agency, Food Standards Agency (FSA), Public Health Scotland and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) confirmed an outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes was linked to smoked fish that sickened at least a dozen people in several countries between October 2020 to March 2022. According to the latest report, shared by Food Safety News, 10 sick people are over the age of 65, and one is a pregnant woman. Three of those affected who are older than 65 have died. Amid the outbreak, the FSA and FSS are conducting food chain and microbiological investigations including whole genome sequencing (WGS), but the cause is yet to be confirmed.
