Review and Analysis of Tuna Recalls in the United States, 2002 through 2020

Abstract

This manuscript reviews 18 years of voluntary recalls for commercially sold tuna in the United States. This recall information is a valuable indicator of the failure to implement procedures for food safety. The voluntary recalls involve fresh, frozen, processed, hermetically sealed and retorted in a shelf stable pack (i.e., canned tuna), and formulated into other tuna products. The FDA regulations that regulate the capture, processing, transportation, and sale of raw and processed seafood are discussed. These regulations include the current Good Manufacturing Practices, the Food Modernization Act, the Emergency Permit Control, Low Acid Canned Foods, the Seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, Food Labeling, and Sanitary Food Transportation. The importance of traceability and Food Safety Culture to successfully prevent or implement recalls is also discussed. The recalls themselves were separated into product treatment groups: uncooked, canned shelf-stable items, and using tuna as an ingredient. The recalls were further categorized and summarized by reason or cause, such as biological and chemical contamination, undeclared ingredients, under-processing, and foreign materials. The primary causes of recalls of the reviewed tuna products were, in order, Listeria monocytogenes , undeclared allergens, elevated histamine levels, and under-processing of retorted tuna items. The recalls for elevated levels of histamine primarily occurred in uncooked (raw) tuna. Recalls for Listeria sp. and undeclared allergens were considered to be primarily Class I recalls, while recalls for elevated levels of histamine and under-processing were almost always assigned to the less serious Class II designation.

Detection of Parvalbumin Fish Allergen in Canned Tuna by Real-Time PCR Driven by Tuna Species and Can-Filling Medium

“…Although tuna species are considered less allergenic than other often consumed fish species, such as salmon and herring [ 11 , 12 ], the occurrence of parvalbumin is reported in both fresh and processed tuna [ 13 , 14 ]. Due to Blickem et al [ 15 ], undeclared tuna allergen was classified as one of the primary reasons for commercial tuna recalls between 2002 to 2020 in the United States.…”

Domestic and Imported Food Product Recalls in Japan: Trend Analysis and Preventive Measures

“…Various studies on recalls have been conducted worldwide. For instance, Blickem et al [28] investigated tuna product recalls in the USA from 2002 to 2020 and emphasized the importance of traceability and food safety culture to prevent recalls. Qiu et al [29] investigated the relationship between food poisoning and recalls in the USA from 2006 to 2016, suggesting that improved traceability may reduce the number of recalls.…”

Thermostable allergens in canned fish: Evaluating risks for fish allergy

“…27 Undeclared tuna allergen was also classified as a primary cause for commercial tuna recalls in the United States between 2002 and 2020. 28 Numerous studies have reported the heat stability of major fish allergen, parvalbumin (PV; 10-14 kDa), which is present in many different fish species and how it can withstand extensive cooking processes. 29,30 Other highly allergenic fish proteins, such as tropomyosin (TM) and collagens, are also heat stable and are present in wide variety of fish species including Asian seabass (a.k.a.…”

“…While tuna species are generally considered to be less allergenic compared with other commonly consumed fish species like salmon and herring, 3,26 the presence of major allergen has been detected in both fresh and processed tuna 27 . Undeclared tuna allergen was also classified as a primary cause for commercial tuna recalls in the United States between 2002 and 2020 28 …”

“… 27 Undeclared tuna allergen was also classified as a primary cause for commercial tuna recalls in the United States between 2002 and 2020. 28 …”