FDA Import Alert 16-81

Why FDA issued it

Note: The revision of this Import Alert (IA) dated 12/18/2024 updates the reason for alert, guidance section including agency contacts, and product description section. Changes to the import alert are bracketed by asterisks (***). Salmonella is a pathogenic bacterium that is a leading cause of human foodborne illness. All age groups are susceptible to Salmonella infections. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that Salmonella bacteria cause about 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths in the United States every year with food being the source for most of these illnesses. Salmonella in seafood is directly attributable to fecal contamination of the water environment of the fish, or insanitary conditions and/or temperature abuse in the post-harvest handling/processing. Salmonella are not endemic to the intestinal tracts of finfish, crustace

Quoted from the “Reason for Alert” section of the FDA page for 16-81, mirrored 18 October 2026. The quotation is truncated at the length this copy carries.