RI diners warned about Korean shellfish

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Rhode Island's seafood restaurants now have checking to do, after a big health warning from the Food and Drug Administration about Korean shellfish. The shellfish and by-products may have been exposed to human fecal waste and are potentially contaminated with norovirus.

The first warning came from the FDA last week. The Rhode Island Department of Health is now passing the word to all restaurants and stores in the state that may have received any Korean shellfish.

Evaluations by the FDA showed Korea's sanitation standards aren't up to the standards the U.S. holds.

Food distributors and operators as well as retailers are being told to take off the market all Korean shellfish products -- fresh, frozen, canned, and processed oysters, clams, mussels, and whole and roe-on scallops (molluscan shellfish) from Korea -- that has entered the United States.

This includes molluscan shellfish from Korea that entered the U.S. prior to May 1, 2012, when the FDA removed products from the Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List.

If you are concerned about your shellfish, contact the store where it was purchased and ask about its origin. Packaged seafood will have labels indicating where it was harvested.

The Rhode Island Department of Health warned of previous contamination in Korean shellfish back in May. Canned shellfish products weren't part of the warning at that point, but in this new case, "the contents of the cans of molluscan shellfish from Korea are still considered not fit for human food because the products were harvested from waters subject to human fecal contamination," the FDA's Curtis Allen said in a news release Friday.