US FDA warns about hepatitis A in frozen tuna from Vietnam

On May 1, the Hawaii Department of Health originally notified the US Food and Drug Administration that one or more frozen ahi tuna cube samples from PT Deho Canning Co., imported by Hilo Fish Company in Hilo, Hawaii, tested positive for hepatitis A.

Then, in mid-May, Hilo Fish began recalling additional frozen tuna steaks and frozen yellowfin tuna cubs from Sustainable Seafood Company in Vietnam and Santa Cruz Seafood, Inc. in the Philippines, over concerns about hepatitis A.

“The initially recalled product has been removed from circulation and the newly recalled frozen tuna lots were not shipped to Hawaii, but were shipped to the mainland US,” the FDA said in a notice.

“While the Centers for Disease Control is not currently aware of any illnesses linked to these products, it is advising post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for unvaccinated persons who may have consumed the potentially-contaminated tuna within the past two weeks,” the FDA said.

The frozen tuna was shipped to restaurants and retailers in Texas, Oklahoma and California. The restaurants in California that received the possibly tainted food include Galaxy Foods Inc. in Rancho Palos Verdes, Doubletree in Claremont, Poke Shack in San Francisco, and Bonito Poke in San Francisco.

FDA said it is working with Hilo and other distributors to ensure they remove the potentially contaminated product from the market.

Sustainable Seafood Company is in district of Cam Lam in Khanh Hoa Province and specializes in processing and exporting fish: fresh and frozen tuna (yellow fin & big eye), barramundi, mahi mahi and opakapaka.