HONOLULU — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday urged the public to be cautious of selling, serving or consuming certain individual quick freezing oysters from the Republic of Korea due to potential norovirus contamination, according to the Hawaii Department of Health Food Safety Branch.

What You Need To Know

  • The oysters are a product of Central Fisheries Co. Ltd. with Lot Code #C-20230228 that were harvested on Feb. 28, 2023, from Designated Area No. 2 and have a use-by date of Feb. 28, 2025

  • Foods containing norovirus may look, smell and taste normal

  • People usually develop symptoms 12 to 48 hours after being exposed to norovirus with most recovering within one to three days

  • DOH urges consumers experiencing any symptoms or severe dehydration to contact their health care provider and report any suspected illness related to the recall to the DOH Disease Reporting Line at 808-586-4586

The oysters are a product of Central Fisheries Co. Ltd. with Lot Code #C-20230228 that were harvested on Feb. 28, 2023, from Designated Area No. 2 and have a use-by date of Feb. 28, 2025, according to a Hawaii DOH news release. The oysters were distributed to restaurants and retailers in Hawaii and California, and possibly other states.

Foods containing norovirus may look, smell and taste normal.

People of all ages can get ill from ingesting norovirus-contaminated oysters. People with compromised immune systems could potentially develop severe illness.

Common symptoms of norovirus include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain. Additional symptoms include fever, headache and body aches.

In young children, older adults and people with other illnesses, the vomiting and diarrhea could be enough to cause dehydration, with the symptoms being a decrease in urination, dry mouth or throat and dizziness when standing up. Dehydrated children may cry with few or no tears and be unusually sleepy or fussy.

(Photo courtesy of Hawaii Department of Health)

People usually develop symptoms 12 to 48 hours after being exposed to norovirus, with most recovering within one to three days.

DOH urges consumers experiencing any symptoms or severe dehydration to contact their health care provider and report any suspected illness related to the recall to the DOH Disease Reporting Line at 808-586-4586.

(Photo courtesy of Hawaii Department of Health)

The DOH recommends restaurants and retailers not to serve or sell the potentially contaminated oysters and to dispose of or return them to the distributor for destruction.

Restaurants and retailers are also warned that shellfish could be a source of pathogens and should control the potential for cross-contamination of the food-processing equipment and environment by following these steps:

  • Wash hands with warm water and soap following the cleaning and sanitation process.
  • Retailers, restaurants and other food service operators who have processed and packaged any potentially contaminated products should practice regular frequent cleaning and sanitizing of food surfaces and food preparation utensils to help minimize cross-contamination.
  • Retailers that have sold bulk product should clean and sanitize all containers used to hold the product.

On June 13, the Hawaii DOH advised the FDA of an outbreak of norovirus illnesses related to consuming the affected oysters. Then on June 19, the Republic of Korea advised the FDA that Central Fisheries Co., Ltd. had voluntarily recalled the affected oysters.

The FDA will update the safety alert as new information becomes available.

Sarah Yamanaka covers news and events for Spectrum News Hawaii. She can be reached at sarah.yamanaka@charter.com.