FDA issues a warning about Canadian oysters

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration is warning retailers and restaurants in 10 states to discard any oysters they purchased earlier this month from Future Seafoods, Inc., a harvester based on Prince Edward Island in Canada.

The U.S. agency said it was alerted by its Canadian counterpart that the shellfish tested positive for Salmonella bacteria and “unacceptable” levels of possibly harmful E. coli.

Future Seafoods has already voluntarily recalled the Prince Edward oysters it started shipping to restaurants and supermarkets on Oct. 10. The authorities said the recipients were located in Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Maine and Rhode Island.

Neither nation’s food-safety watchdog mentioned whether any consumers have been sickened by the suspect oysters. But they noted the E. coli bacteria detected by Canadian authorities is a concern because of the volume and not because the organisms are of a toxic sort, like E. coli 0157:H7, the variation that can be lethal.

This story originally appeared in WGB sister publication Restaurant Business Online.