Genki reopens its Kauai eatery

Genki Sushi at Kukui Grove reopened on Friday, a month after the Department of Health confirmed a link between tainted seafood served at its Oahu and Kauai restaurants and the ongoing hepatitis A outbreak.

The Garden Island reported that the Kukui Grove location reopened with the traditional “irrashai- masu!” greeting led by Mary Hansen, the chief administrative officer for Genki Sushi USA.

Genki locations on Oahu reopened on Sept. 10. The reopening of the Kukui Grove location was delayed for renovations unrelated to sanitary measures required by the Department of Health.

The DOH ordered the closures on Aug. 15 after it traced the hepatitis A outbreak, which has so far affected 271 people, to raw scallops imported from the Philippines and distributed to Genki locations on Oahu and Kauai. Genki locations on Maui and Hawaii island get their scallops from a different distributor and were not included in the shutdowns.

According to the department, the infected scallops, sold as Sea Port Bay Scallops (Wild Harvest, Raw Frozen), were distributed by Koha Oriental Foods and True World Foods. The scallops received by True World Foods were not distributed to any restaurants in the state and were embargoed at their warehouse.

Because hepatitis A has a long incubation period — as long as 50 days — people have continued to fall ill even though the product has been embargoed for more than three weeks. The virus is transmitted through tainted food or drink or close contact with an infected individual.

The shutdown affected some 40 Genki employees on Kauai.