Distributor cleared in hepatitis A outbreak
True World Foods announced Thursday that it has been cleared of allegations it distributed tainted scallops to sushi restaurants in Hawaii.
The seafood distributor, based in Rockleigh, N.J., had imported frozen Sea Port Bay Scallops, but they were embargoed at its Honolulu warehouse last week for fear they were contaminated by hepatitis A. None made it to any restaurants, the Hawaii Department of Health confirmed.
True World said Thursday it is destroying the suspect scallops under the supervision of the Food and Drug Administration.
The company said it has also suspended the sale of any seafood produced by the supplier implicated in the hepatitis A outbreak, De Oro Resources Inc. of Suba Basbas, Philippines.
As of Wednesday, 228 people have contracted hepatitis A in the outbreak that health authorities traced to frozen scallops that were served raw at Genki Sushi restaurants on Oahu and Kauai. Those scallops were supplied by another distributor.
On Aug. 18 three lots of frozen bay scallops, produced on Nov. 23 and 24, and numbered 5885, 5886 and 5887, were recalled by their importer, Sea Port Products Corp. of Kirkland, Wash. None of the scallops at True World’s other 22 warehouses across the country were from those lots, but sales were stopped in any case.
“This incident marks the first time in our 38-year history that seafood distributed by True World Foods has been linked to hepatitis A contamination, despite the fact that we sold 34 million pounds of seafood last year,” said Robert Bleu, the company’s president. “Food safety is a top priority at our company, and we are continually monitoring our suppliers, processes and procedures to protect the health of every consumer who eats at any of our customer sites.”
Cooking scallops to 185 degrees Fahrenheit would have killed the virus.
9 responses to “Distributor cleared in hepatitis A outbreak”
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Possibly some ‘for profit’ shell fisherman went and collected scallops that grew in contaminated waters thereby endangering thousands.
Given that we are talking about the Philippines, would seem that the likelihood of fishermen taking the easy way out and doing their fishing in polluted waters near Manila and Subic is entirely likely. Greed knows no national borders.
But I don’t think they aren’t denying that they use to distribute tainted scallops, SO THE HEADLINE IS MISLEADING.
“aren’t” is “are”.
Scallops cooked and not eaten sashimi style – safe to eat. Can carry the raw carnivore style of eating to an extreme – like in eating sweet meats with no concern for mad cow disease. Boycott Japanese and Pacific Rim restaurants and stay healhy and alive.
Yeah, like anyone is going to listen. See you all on the liver transplant list.
All the lots of the suspected tainted scallops should have been tested (were they?) for hepatitis A contamination before they were destroyed. This would give some better indication of the pervasiveness of the contamination. This could indicate whether only some scallops were contaminated in the packing process or whether all the scallops were being harvested from contaminated waters.
No true chef will serve scallops at 185 degrees. Scallops are seared quickly with high heat and served medium rare for it to be at its best. Laying off the scallops for a while.
I would never eat scallops raw. Mine has to be seared and cooked.
The importer has a duty to test products imported from other countries, particularly third world countries without sewage treatment facilities. Sea Port Products should be shut down.