Mussels inquiry widened on report of food poisoning

THE SEA Fisheries Protection Authority has extended its inquiry into contaminated mussels produced by a west Co Cork company following a report of food poisoning in Limerick.

The authority said the single reported case in Limerick was being investigated as part of the ongoing inquiry at Bantry Bay Seafoods.

The company is already the subject of an inquiry following the issuing of a European Commission “rapid alert” warning this month which named the company and referred to cases of suspected food poisoning abroad.

It is understood that a woman who consumed mussels purchased from Bantry Bay Seafoods in a Limerick restaurant had to be hospitalised for six days in early March.

The woman was showing the classic signs of amnesiac shellfish poisoning, which range from gastroenteritis to memory loss.

The condition can prove fatal among elderly people, and the first recorded outbreak was in eastern Canada in 1987.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) West said it had received one complaint about alleged food poisoning, and there was as yet no proven link between the complaint and a “particular product or restaurant”.

Bantry Bay Seafoods has confirmed that a batch of “potentially implicated mussels” distributed to one outlet in the southwest has been withdrawn.

It said batches of mussels sold abroad, which had been identified as contaminated in a “rapid alert” issued by the European Commission on April 15th, have also been withdrawn from the market.

The company was closed for despatch for a week, but reopened last Friday.

Irish Shellfish Association (ISA) spokesman Richie Flynn said the industry wanted a “speedy investigation” as the main rope mussel season was approaching when some 6,000 to 7,000 tonnes would be harvested for processing.

“The ISA has full confidence in the national monitoring system, but wants reassurances that this can never happen again,” said Mr Flynn.

Bantry Bay Seafoods is one of the largest companies of its type in Ireland.

It produces some 6,500 tonnes of mussels annually, and supplies major customers in France, Britain, Italy, Germany, other parts of Europe and the US.

It is a key player in the Irish shellfish industry, which exports most of its produce at an annual value of over €140 million, according to 2006 figures.