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Daily Catch Seafoods Fined $5,000 for Selling Toxic Shellfish

The sale of gallo mussels contaminated with paralytic shellfish toxin has led to a $5,000 fine for a New Westminster, B.C. company. On November 9, 2004, Daily Catch Seafoods Ltd. entered a guilty plea at the Provincial Court, in New Westminster, BC, to one count of violating section 4(a) of the Food and Drugs Act, resulting in the fine.

On July 23, 2003, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) recommended to the Department of Fisheries, to close an area on Vancouver Island for the harvesting of shellfish, including mussels, as a result of unacceptable level of paralytic shellfish toxin (PSP). On the same date, the CFIA sent an advisory to all federally registered shellfish plants respecting this closure. These plants, as required in their quality management program, issued a recall notice to destroy or return all mussels harvested on July 23, 2004, from this area to all their customers.

On August 2, 2003, the CFIA learned three people were treated for ‘PSP’ at a local hospital as a result of consuming mussels that they had purchased from Daily Catch Seafoods Ltd. on August 1, 2003. An investigation into this matter was subsequently conducted by the Enforcement & Investigation Services of the CFIA, which lead to this charge.

Under the Food and Drugs Act, no person shall sell an article of food that has in or on it any poisonous or harmful substance. One of the CFIA’s primary concerns is food safety. The Agency’s priority in the area of inspection helps to continue Canada’s excellent reputation domestically and internationally as having a safe and high quality food supply.

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