BORD IASCAIGH Mhara (BIM) has suspended a west Cork shellfish company from its national quality scheme, pending the outcome of an investigation into sale of contaminated mussels.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has also confirmed that some of these mussels were sold on the Irish market through Aldi supermarkets, and has issued a warning and product recall.
The food safety alert comes almost three weeks after a European Commission “rapid food safety” alert on April 15th about sale of contaminated Bantry Bay Seafoods produce through the French distributor Davigel, which is part of the Nestle group.
Bantry Bay Seafoods had initially indicated that the contaminated product had been sold in Britain and continental Europe. However, last week the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) confirmed that it was also examining an alleged case of shellfish poisoning in Limerick in early March as part of its inquiry.
The food safety authority which is working with the SFPA on the investigation, then issued its alert on Saturday, warning consumers not to eat certain batches of frozen mussels produced by Bantry Bay Seafoods which had been sold on the Irish market. Dr Alan Reilly, FSAI deputy chief executive, told The Irish Times that a traceability study had tracked the mussels back to Ireland through the Aldi supermarket chain. Quantities were small, and there were no reported cases of illness linked to these so far, he said.
The batches, all of which have already been purchased, may contain Azaspiracid shellfish poisoning toxins. These naturally occurring toxins are known to cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach cramps, the FSAI said.
The batches affected are batch code 21F1, with a production date of 31.1.07 and best before date of 31.1.09 (frozen mussels in white wine sauce), and batch code 26A1, with a production date of 1.8.07 and best before date of 1.2.09 (frozen mussels in garlic butter).
“While all of the affected stock in Aldi Ireland was sold some months ago and is no longer available on the supermarket shelf, consumers may have kept packets in their home freezers,” the FSAI said. It advised consumers to return any such packets to the retailers to seek a full refund.
BIM said that the international food quality certification scheme which Bantry Bay Seafoods has been suspended from is an independent accreditation scheme dedicated to the seafood sector. The suspension will remain, pending outcome of the SFPA inquiry.
A spokesman for Bantry Bay Seafoods would make no comment on this development. However, the company had disputed a claim that contaminated product was harvested from an area of west Cork last year after it had been closed under the national biotoxin monitoring system.
The European rapid alert refers to harvesting from a closed area, but this is based on incorrect information from the French authorities who made the complaint, the company says.
The national marine biotoxin monitoring programme tests shellfish harvesting areas regularly.