January 14, 2025 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued new guidelines for protein analog producers in order to support the fast-growing sector.
The guidance most pertinent to the alt-protein industry is around how to label plant-based analogs of foods that are traditionally animal-derived, like alt-seafood. The FDA shared a draft guidance document on this topic, allowing citizens to submit comments on the language until 7 May 2025.
December 20, 2024 — The FDA refused entry of three shipments of canned clams into the U.S. after finding high concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a type of polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS).
According to testing from the FDA, canned clams from Tri-Union/Chicken of the Sea, Crown Prince, and Kawasho Foods’ Geisha brand showed high levels of PFOA. In FDA testing of 12 processed clam samples in September and October, it found the three highest concentrations of PFOA were 6.02 parts per billion (ppb) in the sample of Geisha clams, 6.59 ppb in Crown Prince clams, and 25.2 ppb in Tri-Union/Chicken of the Sea clams.
December 17, 2024 — A San Fransisco, California, U.S.A.-based seafood distributor has issued an urgent recall of certain Fanny Bay, Buckley Bay, and Royal Miyagi oysters due to multiple confirmed illnesses from norovirus contamination.
The oysters, originally sourced from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based Pacific Northwest Shellfish and Richmond, British Columbia, Canada-based Union Bay Seafood by S&M Shellfish were distributed to retailers and distributors throughout the U.S.
November 21, 2024 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is asking the seafood industry, academia, and other relevant parties for more information on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in seafood.
“This request is part of our continued work to increase our understanding of the potential for PFAS exposure from seafood and to reduce dietary exposure to PFAS that may pose a health concern,” the FDA said in a recent update.
August 7, 2024 — The Food and Drug Administration is asking businesses to avoid either selling or buying certain oysters from Lewis Bay, Massachusetts, over fears that the seafood could be contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni.
The advisory affects restaurants and retailers in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, and Pennsylvania who purchased the oysters from July 1 to July 18.
The move comes after the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries closed an oyster site after an outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni illnesses associated with consumption of oysters from two lease sites in Lewis Bay.
Two certified dealers, Chatham Shellfish Co. and Island Creek Oysters, recalled the oysters.
July 26, 2024 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising restaurants and food retailers not to serve or sell, and consumers not to eat, recalled oysters from Recompense Cove in Freeport, Maine, U.S.A., because they may be contaminated with Campylobacter bacteria.
“These oysters have been associated with a Campylobacter illness outbreak in Maine,” the FDA said in a press release.
April 8, 2024 — The U.S. imported 59,510 metric tons (MT), or 131 million pounds, of shrimp in February 2024, up from the 52,889 MT, or 116,600,285 pounds, it imported in February 2023.
The total is also slightly higher than the 59,442 metric tons (MT), or 131,000,000 pounds, the country imported in January 2024.
March 27, 2024 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not currently detain imported seafood products contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which can cause damage to human immune systems.
However, on 19 March, it released a document to guide the industry through a crackdown on PFAS that will likely lead to import alerts and detentions in the near future.
March 14, 2024 — The state is issuing a shellfish closure in parts of Buzzards Bay in an area, following guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Officials concluded a bigger buffer zone is needed between the outflow from the New Bedford and Fairhaven Wastewater Treatment plant and the area where shellfishermen are growing and harvesting.
Bob Glenn, deputy director of the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), said as filter feeders, bi-valve shellfish are highly vulnerable to contamination from polluted waters, which can create health issues if consumed.
“Because municipal waste — even treated municipal waste — has a fair amount of E.Coli in it, it basically can lead to a whole host of different gastrointestinal illnesses,” he said.
According to officials, the closure will impact some recreational shellfishermen, the city of New Bedford, which had hoped to open up an aquaculture industry within the Clark’s Cove area, and two quahog harvesters — effective immediately.
March 7, 2024 — The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a rule back in January 2023 on seafood traceability “requiring these entities [in the seafood supply chain] to maintain records containing information on critical tracking events in the supply chain for these designated foods, such as initially packing, shipping, receiving, and transforming these foods.” Seafood dealers and processors have until Jan. 20, 2026, to comply with the new rule, and tech developers around the world are working to develop the software and apps that will track almost all seafood from the boat to the table.
An important part of traceability will be the cost. “Traceability needs to be a byproduct of improved efficiency, rather than a tax on the industry” says Chip Terry, president of BlueTrace, a Maine-based software developer that started off creating tracking systems for oyster farmers, and is now expanding into other seafood supply chains.
Terry expresses concern that the new FDA rule will be harder for small-scale operations to comply with than for large, vertically-integrated seafood companies. “What we’re looking at are ‘key data events’, KDEs, and ‘critical tracking events’, CTEs. We identify data such as the date and time of landing, location, weights, vessel, and create a unique traceability lot code that follows that product through the CTEs.”
The CTEs largely represent the consolidation and transfer of various lots of seafood. “Oysters and other mollusks are exempt, since they are covered by the National Shellfish Sanitation Commission rules which resemble the new FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) rules,” says Terry. “For various reasons, scallop adductor muscles, and catfish, are also excluded. Lobsters, crabs, squid, shrimp, fish and other seafood all fall under the new rule. A lot of the tracking is currently done by writing the information down on a clipboard. The challenge is that you have so many boats and locations, it’s hard to scale that up. When you put all that information into an app, it can be accessed by a company’s accounting department, shipping department, or shared with business partners and regulators. An easy-to-use system increases efficiency and creates the digital record that the FDA requires.”