Hold The Sushi: Moon Marine Recalls 29.4 Tons Of Raw Tuna

Because of a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Bareilly infections, the Moon Marine USA Corp., aka MMI, of Cupertino, Calif., is voluntarily recalling 58,828 pounds of a frozen raw yellowfin tuna product labeled as Nakaochi Scrape AA or AAA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday.

A total of 116 people with the bacterial infections have been reported in 20 states and the District of Columbia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday.

The number of infected people reported in each location is as follows: Alabama, two; Arkansas, one; Connecticut, five; District of Columbia, two; Florida, one; Georgia, five; Illinois, 10; Louisiana, two; Maryland, 11; Massachusetts, eight; Mississippi, one; Missouri, two; New Jersey, seven; New York, 24; North Carolina, two; Pennsylvania, five; Rhode Island, five; South Carolina, three; Texas, three; Virginia, five; and Wisconsin, 12.

Twelve people have been hospitalized, the CDC said, but no deaths have been reported.

MMI's Nakaochi Scrape is tuna backmeat that looks like a ground product because it is scraped off the bones, the FDA reported.

The product is unavailable for sale to individual consumers, but it may have been used to make sushi, sashimi, ceviche, and similar dishes in either grocery stores or restaurants.

The company's name and Nakaochi Scrape AA or AAA were printed on boxes of the product when it was initially sold to distributors, the FDA said. However, the boxed contents may have been broken into smaller lots for further sale and the box may not be available to the last retailer or consumer. Therefore, the tuna may not be readily identifiable by retail outlets or by consumers as being from the implicated lots.

Many of the people who became ill reported eating raw tuna in sushi as spicy tuna, the FDA reported.

Consumers who think they might have become ill from eating possibly contaminated raw Nakaochi Scrape should consult their health-care providers, the FDA said.

Most people infected with Salmonella develop abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and fever between 12 and 72 hours after infection, according to the FDA. The illness generally lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment.

In some cases, however, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patients must be hospitalized. In these patients, the Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other body sites, which can cause death unless these patients are treated promptly with antibiotics, the agency said

Because infants, older adults, pregnant women, and people with impaired immune systems are more likely than others to develop severe illness, the FDA advises them to avoid eating either raw or partially cooked fish.

The Moon Marine USA Corp. is a unit of Moon Marine International Co. Ltd.