The US government’s food safety agency has ordered the recall of nearly 35,000 kilograms of fish imported from Bangladesh and Myanmar by a Bangladeshi-American wholesaler, saying it was not presented for import re-inspection into the United States.

The Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) say Siluriformes fish products from Bangladesh and Myanmar are ineligible for import into the United States.

Interestingly, most of the fish, commonly known in Bangladesh as Maangur, Boal, Singhi, Pabda, have already been consumed by the customers with no known complaints so far.

“We have very little stock left and we will be sending that back to Bangladesh or exporting to some other countries soon,” said KM Chowdhury, manager of Premium Foods USA, the company that imported these fish products.

The New York-based company, owned by a Bangladeshi-American Kalol Ahmed, is a leading importer, distributor and wholesaler of Bangladeshi fish, vegetables and snacks in the US.

The FSIS statement released on Saturday (Jul 27) said these items were shipped to retail locations in Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

“There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to the consumption of these products,” said the FSIS statement, adding, “FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ freezers. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.”

KM Chowdhury said the company had permission from the government’s Food and Drug Administration agency and were also cleared by the Customs department.

“We do not know why FSIS has ordered a recall. The only thing that separates these varieties from others is their moustache,” said KM Chowdhury.

The various Siluriformes fish products were imported from Bangladesh and Myanmar between March 26, 2018 and March 8, 2019 and Premium Foods stopped the import in March this year after a notice from the FSIS.

“In fact, there are some who are still importing these varieties,” he said.