A Hilo food business has issued a recall of frozen tuna that tested positive for hepatitis A.
Hilo Fish Co. President and Chief Operating Officer Kerry Umamoto said the hepatitis contamination was detected by the company’s consistent, proactive testing.
A second test of the frozen fish came back negative, he said. But the company went forward with the recall out of an abundance of caution.
The May 18 voluntary recall involved a single batch of frozen fish from a Vietnam supplier, Sustainable Seafood Co., and a Philippines supplier, Santa Cruz Seafood Inc.
Hepatitis A can cause symptoms such as pain, nausea and jaundice. But no consumers have become ill, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The frozen fish was sold by Hilo Fish to companies in Texas, Oklahoma and California, with none sold in Hawaii.
The Hawaii Department of Health alerted consumers about a second hepatitis A recall on Oahu of fish supplied by Tropic Fish Hawaii LLC, a subsidiary of Hilo Fish. Tropic Fish initiated a product recall for frozen tuna cubes from Indonesia that tested positive for hepatitis A. None of that product was shipped anywhere except on Oahu.
According to its website, Hilo Fish is a “major importer of quality fresh seafood” from the South Pacific and countries in Southeast Asia.
Top Hilo Fish brands, which are known worldwide, include fresh Krimson premium brand seafood, which is used by chefs, and Reelfresh for retail and institutional sales.
Umamoto said Hilo Fish has been in business for 26 years and never needed a recall. The purpose of testing, he said, is to keep food safe for customers. The lack of any illnesses after the recall went into effect was reassuring, he said.
Fewer than 200 cases of frozen fish was recalled.
“We’re not the only importer of this product,” Umamoto said. “But we’re one of the very few that actually test.”
For the West Coast, Hilo Fish says on its website, “fresh product cargo is flown into Los Angeles where our sales office and facility (are) conveniently located just five minutes away from the Los Angeles International Airport.” The company maintains a New Jersey sales office as a “hub” for sales on the East Coast.
Hilo Fish maintains consistent supplies of bigeye, yellowfin and bluefish tuna; albacore; swordfish; mahi mahi; moonfish and several others, according to its website.
The company looks at the recall as an opportunity to emphasize its proactive approach.
“It’s Hilo,” Umamoto said. “Our name is everything because Hilo is a small community.”
According to Hilo Fish, its frozen products are processed by “vendors worldwide” with carbon monoxide or “tasteless smoke” for rapid preservation of color, taste and texture for up to a year.
Umamoto said Hilo Fish focuses on the quality of its products rather than increased volume and income. For that reason, the company employs quality-control inspectors who travel widely to inspect the work its fish suppliers do throughout Asia.
The product contamination, Umamoto emphasized, happened at only one of the suppliers and only affected a single product.
He did not disclose how many cases of frozen product Hilo Fish exports on a daily basis.
“I just want everybody to know that we did the right thing, and it’s voluntary,” Umamoto said.
“We always thought that we have the obligation to the consumer, or to whoever eats our products, to produce fresh, high-quality seafood,” he said.
Health officials have advised anyone who ate contaminated fish to get vaccinated against hepatitis A.
Email Jeff Hansel at jhansel@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
