Takumi Frozen Ground Tuna is being recalled because the product has high histamine levels, high total plate count, coliforms, and E. coli contamination. The serotype of the E. coli in the product is unknown. There is no mention of any illnesses reported to the company to date because this recall was posted on the FDA’s Enforcement Reports page, not the regular recall page. The recalling firm is Tokai Denpun USA Inc. of Redmond, Washington.
The recall initiation date was 10/5/21, but the center classification date wasn’t until 11/13/2023. The recalled product is Takumi frozen ground tuna meat, raw tuna that is ready to eat, vacuum packaged units in fiber boxes. The individual units were sold by weight at the point of sale. The tuna is a product of Fiji.
Histamines are a compound that can cause scromboid poisoning. Symptoms of this illness include tingling and burning in the mouth, facial swelling, hives, itchy skin, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Some people can experience symptoms similar to asthma, with wheezing, coughing, or difficulty breathing. High coliform counts can indicate contamination with fecal matter.
There are no codes printed on the master cases or on the vacuum original packages. The firm assigned their internal warehouse inventory system lot code for ground tuna for the first shipment as W7032594. However, upon return, the cases were assigned a new lot code W7034335 to segregate it away from the rest of the shipment in the warehouse inventory system. The second shipment internal lot code for the ground tuna is W7034472.
If you purchased this Takumi Frozen Ground Tuna, do not eat it, even if you plan to cook it first. You can throw the product away in a secure trash can after first double bagging it, or you can take it back to the store where you bought it for a full refund.