California based S&M Shellfish Co. has issued a product recall for oysters after confirming multiple illnesses due to norovirus contamination. The oysters affected were sold under the names Fanny Bay, Buckley Bay and Royal Miyagi Oysters and were harvested between December 1st and 9th in British Columbia.
California restaurants and businesses affected by the recall include San Francisco’s Waterbar, San Francisco’s Mission Street Oyster Bar, Redwood City’s Hurrica, Santa Rosa’s Santa Rosa Seafood and San Pablo’s Mariscos La Playita, according to a notice from the California Department of Public Health. The oysters were also distributed in Arizona, Colorado, Washington, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration is recommending businesses dispose of these products or return them to their distributor for destruction. The oysters can be identified by the original harvesters or producers, printed on the shellfish tag: Pacific Northwest Shellfish and Union Bay Seafood.
Washington company Rudy’s Shellfish also recently issued a recall of oysters and Manila clams harvested from Nov. 15 to Dec. 11 due to a norovirus outbreak. The affected shellfish were distributed in California as well as other states.
More than 70 people reported feeling ill after eating oysters at the LA Times’ 101 Best Restaurants event in Los Angeles on Dec. 3, according to L.A. Taco. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is investigating a norovirus outbreak associated with the oysters served at “an event on December 3,” a spokesperson told L.A. Taco without referring to the LA Times party specifically. An LA Times spokesperson told L.A. Taco that the oysters served at the event were Fanny Bay Oysters originating from British Columbia and sourced by Santa Monica Seafood.
The Desert Sun reported this week that there have been 57 confirmed and probable cases of norovirus reported by people who ate raw oysters from British Columbia at California restaurants, according to the CDPH.
Norovirus symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach pain, fever, headache and body ache, according to the FDA. Symptoms usually develop between 12 and 48 hours after exposure and last one to three days.