Import and sale of shellfish harvested from South Ayrshire, UK prohibited immediately

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (June 18) that as razor clams harvested from North Bay and Croy Bay of South Ayshire, the United Kingdom (UK) were detected with Amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) toxin, the CFS has decided to prohibit the import into and sale within Hong Kong of all shellfish harvested from South Ayrshire with immediate effect. The trade should stop using and selling the products immediately. Members of the public should also stop consuming the products.

"The CFS received a notification from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the European Commission that a batch of razor clams harvested in North Bay and Croy Bay of the UK were found to contain ASP toxin and certain affected product has been imported into Hong Kong," a spokesman for the CFS said.

The spokesman said that based on the information provided by the RASFF, the CFS has followed up with the local importers concerned, Step Trans and Global Trust Products, and learnt that they had imported 55 cartons (about 1 400 kilograms) and 14 cartons (about 360kg) of the affected product respectively. All of the product has been sold and there is no remaining stock. The CFS is tracing the distribution of the product concerned.

For the sake of prudence, the CFS has immediately banned the import into and sale within Hong Kong of all shellfish harvested from South Ayrshire (including North Bay and Croy Bay), UK.

The spokesman urged consumers who had bought the affected product to immediately stop consumption. If they have bought similar food item recently but are not sure about its place of origin, they should also refrain from eating it for the sake of prudence and check the product's origin with relevant retailers. If symptoms develop after consuming the food, they should seek medical advice as soon as possible.

ASP toxin is a natural toxin sometimes found in bi-valve shellfish. It is heat-stable and cannot be destroyed through cooking. ASP toxin can cause symptoms such as abdominal cramps, vomiting, disorientation, short-term memory loss in some cases.

Some precautionary measures to avoid shellfish poisoning are as follows:

* Remove the viscera before cooking, avoid consuming the cooking sauce and eat a small amount of shellfish in one meal;

* Children, patients and the elderly may be susceptible to poisoning and should be cautious in consuming shellfish;

* When symptoms occur after consuming shellfish, seek medical advice immediately.

The CFS has informed the UK authorities of the import ban, and will also notify the local trade. The trade should stop using or selling the products immediately should they have imported and still possess any.

The CFS will continue to closely follow up on the incident and take appropriate action, including enhancing surveillance of aquatic products imported from the UK to safeguard food safety and public health. Investigation is ongoing.

Ends/Saturday, June 18, 2016