China will recall more than 4,100 oysters imported from the United States that were reported to be contaminated by bacteria, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
The administration has already called for a temporary stop to import oysters from Washington state, where the contaminated oysters were produced.
But three companies from Shanghai, Beijing and Taipei have already imported 4,140 oysters from the state, The Beijing News reported Sunday.
The Shanghai CZC Trading Co that imported more than 3,000 oysters responded that it has already destroyed the products after learning the information, while the Beijing company which imported 600 oysters could not be reached.
On September 26, the US Food and Drug Administration reported that the oysters harvested in the Hood Canal between August 30 and September 19 were suspected to be contaminated by Vibiro parahaemolyticus, and five people had become sick after consuming the oysters. Some of those oyster products were exported to China, Thailand and Indonesia.
The country's quality supervision authority ordered tests for the bacteria to be conducted on oysters imported from other countries and regions as well as for some other imported seafood products.
The bacteria can cause abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea, but it is safe if the food is cooked, because it dies at temperatures above 56 degrees Celsius.
China so far has not received any cases of sick people from the oysters, the newspaper said.
The quality supervision watchdog also ensured domestic customers that China has not imported cantaloupes from the US, where at least 13 deaths and 70-plus illnesses have been linked to the fruit contaminated with listeria.
