Hong Kong – Import and sale of shellfishes harvested in production areas 35.11 and 35.06 in France suspended

Posted on January 13, 2020 by | Leave a comment

CFS

Issue Date 10.1.2020
Source of Information Centre for Food Safety
Food Product Shellfishes
Product Name and Description Shellfishes harvested in production areas 35.11 and 35.06 in France
Reason For Issuing Alert
  • The CFS received a notification from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the European Commission that shellfishes harvested in the abovementioned areas which were suspected to be contaminated with norovirus were under recall.
  • The CFS immediately followed up with major local importers and retailers. Preliminary investigation found that a local importer had imported not ready-to-eat mussels from the abovementioned areas into Hong Kong which were on sale in its supermarkets.
Action Taken by the Centre for Food Safety
  • For the sake of prudence, the CFS has immediately suspended the import into and sale within Hong Kong of all shellfishes harvested in the two areas concerned.
  • The importer concerned had already voluntarily stopped sale and removed from shelves of the affected product for the sake of prudence.
  • The CFS is tracing the distribution of the affected product.
  • The CFS has informed the French authorities of the import suspension and will also notify the local trade.
  • The CFS will continue to follow up on the incident and take appropriate action to safeguard food safety and public health.
Advice to the Trade Stop using or selling the affected product harvested in the abovementioned areas concerned immediately.
Advice to Consumers
  • One may be infected by norovirus or other pathogenic microorganism if consuming undercooked shellfish which is contaminated. So, shellfish should be thoroughly cooked before consumption.
  • Young children, elderly people, pregnant women and others with weakened immune systems should pay special attention when consuming shellfish.
Further Information The CFS press release
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