In a message circulated to state public health authorities, the FDA said that the seafood should not be distributed, “pending forthcoming details on what we might reasonably expect could be a fairly extensive recall of the product.”
The agency stressed states can take any action they deem appropriate. Alan Brench, chief of food emergency response and planning at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said that the one distributor in Maryland that handles Korean shellfish asked to put a hold on its products and for stores to take them off the shelf. Brench estimates that only a small amount of shellfish is affected in Maryland, about 10,000 pounds.
“We’re not aware of any sicknesses at the moment. There have been investigations of illness outbreaks which have been linked back to Korean seafood in the past,” Brench said. “One would have to extrapolate [from the new ban] that FDA has to be doing some back-checking.” “I’m confident that what’s out on the market now is safe,” Croonenberghs said. “But if somebody has product in their freezer from Korea, don’t eat that.”
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com