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The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (May 26) announced that the import ban imposed on raw oysters from Penn Cove, Washington State, the United States (US), has been lifted with immediate effect.
Following up on a food poisoning case related to the consumption of raw oysters earlier, the CFS found that the raw oysters supplied by the restaurant concerned were harvested in Penn Cove, Washington State, the US. For the sake of prudence, the CFS had imposed an import ban on all raw oysters harvested in the area since March 2 this year to safeguard public health and food safety.
A CFS spokesman said, "The Centre has been following up on the incident closely with the US authorities since then. In view of the submission of an investigation report and the implementation of surveillance programmes by the US authorities, the Centre has conducted an assessment and decided to lift the import ban imposed on raw oysters from Penn Cove, Washington State, the US."
The spokesman added, "The CFS will continue to monitor closely raw oysters imported from the area. Appropriate actions will be taken to safeguard food safety and public health."
Ends/Thursday, May 26, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:22
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