Fans of tuna beware, many restaurants and hotels throughout Southern California have been hit by a “frozen tuna recall involving steaks and cubes that tested positive for hepatitis A.” While the tuna hasn’t been linked to any illnesses so far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are urging anyone who has consumed the fish and hasn’t been vaccinated yet to promptly seek medical attention.
Fans of tuna beware, many restaurants and hotels throughout Southern California have been hit by a “frozen tuna recall involving steaks and cubes that tested positive for hepatitis A.” While the tuna hasn’t been linked to any illnesses so far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are urging anyone who has consumed the fish and hasn’t been vaccinated yet to promptly seek medical attention.
But what is Hepatitis A, and what brands of tuna are affected by the recall? For starters, Hepatitis A “is a contagious liver disease that can range in severity from mild to severe.” It is “transmitted through food, water and from an infected person to other unvaccinated family members and sexual partners.” For the infected, symptoms typically show up anywhere from 15 to 50 days after eating contaminated food, and may include “fatigue, abdominal pain, jaundice, dark urine, pale stools and abnormal liver tests.”
As for what brands of tuna to watch out for, the recall notice, issued back on May 18, includes “frozen yellowfin tuna steaks from Sustainable Seafood Company and yellowfin tuna cubes from Santa Cruz Seafood.” Unfortunately, a number of different establishments have been affected by the recall, including Orange County establishments like “Ola Mexican Kitchen in Huntington Beach and the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, and Hotel Irvine in Irvine.” Other businesses affected in Southern California include “the Doubletree Hotel in Claremont, Galaxy Foods Inc. in Rancho Palos Verdes, Jus Poke in Redondo Beach and Almansor Court in Alhambra.”
At the moment, the FDA and CDC are working hard to help “state and local officials to assess the risk of exposure to hepatitis A from the contaminated frozen tuna” that was “imported from Vietnam and the Philippines.” Additionally, the CDC, in particular, is recommending any unvaccinated people who think they ate the recalled tuna to undergo post-exposure prophylaxis, “a preventive medical treatment to prevent the infection from occurring.”
For more information about the recall, consumers can contact the FDA at 888-SAFEFOOD or FDA.gov from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Sources:
FDA recalls tuna testing positive for hepatitis A, affecting Orange County restaurants, hotels
Hilo Fish Company issues mainland recall after hepatitis A found in frozen tuna
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