Washington state has issued a ban on all shellfish products imported from Korea. This is a preventive measure. Officials say that states are “advised to treat Korean shellfish products as being from an unapproved source.” The list of banned products includes oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops. Canned products are not included in this ban.
The FDA has removed all dealers certified in the Korean Shellfish Sanitation Program from the Interstate Certified Shippers List. This list is published monthly and is used by the seafood industry and public health officials. It lists the shippers that have been “certified by regulatory officials under the uniform sanitation requirements of the National Shellfish Program.”
The state is working with local agencies and fish distributors to recall these products, and is warning the public not to consume them. The products may be contaminated. The government has not stated the nature of that contamination.
Shellfish that are grown and produced in the state of Washington are not affected by this ban and recall.
Gross why are we buying fish from South Korea…for goodness sakes buy American!!
Labeling food sources is one of the issues we’re passionate about. The U.S. government has passed a country-of-labeling law that was in the 2008 Farm Bill that the World Trade Organization just ruled violates some trade agreements. The government is appealing this ruling. We agree that consumers should know where their food comes from and labeling is the only way to let people know if their bananas were grown in Ecuador or California, or if their fish comes from Korea or Massachusetts.