Frozen, raw tuna steaks individually packed in 8 oz. vacuum packages. Sold in cardboard…
Northern Fisheries Ltd. recalled this product and the FDA reported the enforcement action on 23 October 2019 as Class II. The recall was initiated by the firm. Northern Fisheries Ltd. was notified by two of their customers that they each received several consumer complaints from consumers who experienced symptoms of scombroid (histamine) poisoning after consuming tuna steaks and tuna loins distributed by Northern Fisheries Ltd.
The record
Every field below is published by the FDA in the openFDA food enforcement database. Check the FDA notice before acting on any recall: this page is a reading of the public record, not a substitute for it.
- Product
- Frozen, raw tuna steaks individually packed in 8 oz. vacuum packages. Sold in cardboard cases (10 Lbs. per case).
- Reason for recall
- Northern Fisheries Ltd. was notified by two of their customers that they each received several consumer complaints from consumers who experienced symptoms of scombroid (histamine) poisoning after consuming tuna steaks and tuna loins distributed by Northern Fisheries Ltd.
- Recalling firm
- Northern Fisheries Ltd.
- Firm location
- Little Compton, Rhode Island, United States
- Classification
- Class II
- Status
- Terminated
- Recall number
- F-0092-2020
- Quantity
- 850 cases (8,500 Lbs.)
- Distribution
- GA, PA, MD, MN, & VA
- Initiated
- 30 September 2019
- Reported by FDA
- 23 October 2019
- Terminated
- 25 March 2020
- Firm notified by
- Product codes
- Lot # 0058800, UPC Code: 815838020669 Production date: 6/13/2019 Best if used by date: 6/13/2021
Reading this record
Five things about this record are not in the record itself, and each one changes how it should be read.
- Class II means the FDA judged a remote probability of serious harm, or a probability of temporary or medically reversible harm. The class is assigned by an agency health hazard evaluation under 21 CFR 7.41, not by the firm.
- The firm started this recall itself. Most FDA food recalls are voluntary, and a recall is a food safety plan working rather than failing. The circumstances in which the agency asks for one instead are set out in 21 CFR 7.45.
- This is one of 2 records covering the same recall event. The FDA opens one enforcement record per product code, so a recall of a product line appears here many times. Counting these records as 2 separate recalls, which almost every published figure does, overstates it by a factor of 2. Every product code in this event is listed together on the record that covers the whole recall, which is the page a search engine is pointed to for all 2 of them.
- The recall ran for 6 months, from 30 September 2019 to termination on 25 March 2020. Termination means the agency judged that all reasonable effort had been made, under 21 CFR 7.55, and it says nothing about whether product remained in circulation.
- The distribution pattern names 4 states, and the FDA published the enforcement report 3 weeks after the firm began the recall.
- Recalls of fish or seafood run a median of 5 months, so this one was about typical for its category. Fish and fishery products are the one food category with their own HACCP regulation in the United States, 21 CFR part 123, because the hazards are species-specific: histamine in scombroid fish, ciguatera in reef fish, and Listeria in cold-smoked products.
Named in the distribution pattern: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Minnesota. Those pages count recalls by where the RECALLING FIRM sits, which is a different question from where this product went.
What this recall was for
Chemical contamination
A chemical contamination recall covers a substance that is harmful in food and was never meant to be there: a heavy metal, a cleaning chemical, a pesticide residue, or a natural toxin such as aflatoxin or histamine.
A preventive controls plan covers chemical contamination under the clauses below. This is where the control belongs, not a finding against any firm named on this page: a recall record states a reason, and most of these recalls were initiated by the firm itself.
- 21 CFR 117.35(b)
- Substances used in cleaning and sanitizing: toxic materials stored, identified and used so they cannot contaminate food, food-contact surfaces or packaging.
- 21 CFR 117 subpart G
- Supply-chain programme: the approval and verification a receiving facility runs on a supplier when the hazard is controlled before the ingredient arrives.
- 21 CFR 117.130(b)(1)(ii)
- Hazard analysis: identifying the known or reasonably foreseeable chemical hazards, including radiological hazards, pesticide and drug residues, natural toxins and food decomposition.
Filed under fish and seafood. A product can sit in more than one.
Other fish and seafood recalls for the same reason
These are the closest records in the corpus: the same kind of food, recalled for a hazard this record also names. Unlike the firm’s own records below, they come from different companies, which is what makes them a pattern rather than a history.
Other records from Northern Fisheries Ltd.
The FDA opens one enforcement record per product code, so several of these are frequently one recall event. 8 other records name this firm.
| Reported | Product | Firm | Reason | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-01-01 | Frozen Yellowfin Tuna Steak, 4 oz. and 6 oz., Keep Frozen, Imported/Distributed: Mical Seafood Inc., 10400 Griffin Rd, Suite #209, Cooper City, Florida 33328 | Northern Fisheries Ltd. | Products have the potential to cause scombrotoxin fish poisoning because they may have increased levels of histamine. | Class II |
| 2020-01-01 | Frozen Yellowfin Tuna Loins, 5-8 lbs, Keep Frozen, Imported/Distributed: Mical Seafood Inc., 10400 Griffin Rd, Suite #209, Cooper City, Florida 33328 | Northern Fisheries Ltd. | Products have the potential to cause scombrotoxin fish poisoning because they may have increased levels of histamine. | Class II |
| 2020-01-01 | Frozen Yellowfin Tuna Ground Meat, Keep Frozen, Imported/Distributed: Mical Seafood Inc., 10400 Griffin Rd, Suite #209, Cooper City, Florida 33328 | Northern Fisheries Ltd. | Products have the potential to cause scombrotoxin fish poisoning because they may have increased levels of histamine. | Class II |
| 2019-12-11 | Tuna King 4 oz. and 6 oz. Tuna Steaks (frozen) Production date 06/13/2019 Expiration: 06/13/2021 4 oz. UPC 815838020645, lot 0058798; 6 oz. UPC 815838020652, lot 0058799 | Northern Fisheries Ltd. | Firm is voluntarily recalling tuna medallions, 4 oz and 6 oz tuna steaks and Tuna Saku (products of Vietnam) due to potentially elevated levels of histamine | Class II |
| 2019-12-11 | Tuna King 2-3 oz. Tuna Medallions (1 lb. packages) Production date 06/13/2019 Expiration: 06/13/2021 UPC: 815838020638 Lot: 0058797 | Northern Fisheries Ltd. | Firm is voluntarily recalling tuna medallions, 4 oz and 6 oz tuna steaks and Tuna Saku (products of Vietnam) due to potentially elevated levels of histamine | Class II |
| 2019-12-11 | Tuna King Tuna Saku 12-16oz 1x10lb Production date 06/13/2019 Expiration: 06/13/2021 UPC: 815838022267 Lot: 0058801 | Northern Fisheries Ltd. | Firm is voluntarily recalling tuna medallions, 4 oz and 6 oz tuna steaks and Tuna Saku (products of Vietnam) due to potentially elevated levels of histamine | Class II |
| 2019-10-23 | Frozen, raw tuna loins packed in vacuum packages weighing between 5-8 Lbs. each. Packed in cardboard cases (30 Lbs. per case). | Northern Fisheries Ltd. | Northern Fisheries Ltd. was notified by two of their customers that they received several consumer complaints from consumers who experienced symptoms of scombroid (histamine) poisoning after consuming tuna steaks distributed by Northern Fisheries Ltd. | Class II |
| 2017-06-07 | Tuna King Tuna Steaks 10 oz.. ,10 lb Box. Frozen UPC Codes: 8158380206764 | Northern Fisheries Ltd. | Histamine Levels above 50ppm | Class II |
All 9 records for Northern Fisheries Ltd.
All 2019 recalls · All FDA food recall data
21 CFR 117.35(b) is the clause behind this recall, and it is one somebody has to produce evidence for at their next audit. Krolda maps supplier documents to the clause they satisfy in FSSC 22000, IFS Food and 21 CFR 117, and routes the corrective action when the evidence is missing.
Early accessRecall records come from the openFDA food enforcement API, published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the public domain. Krolda adds the hazard classification and the clause mapping; neither is an FDA determination. Always check the FDA notice before acting on a recall.