Tai Wansheng' seafood factory serious violation of HACCP regulations by the United States FDA warning

Thai seafood industry giant Tai Wan Sheng has received a notice from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for serious violations of seafood production Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations.

The warning came after an assessment of Tai Wan Sheng's seafood processing plant in Samut Sakhon, Thailand, in January. The tests were conducted remotely due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

During the remote evaluation, FDA found multiple serious HACCP violations at the facility.

The violations cited in the Food and Drug Administration's warning notice against Tai Wan Shing include problems with the company's process for producing frozen pre-cooked tuna loins, which was deemed insufficient to control histamine formation.

Histamine poisoning is a kind of allergic food poisoning caused by eating fish and fish products containing histamine. Cooking, canning, or freezing do not reduce histamine levels because the compound is very stable, especially heat stable.

Almost all people will be affected by histamine and produce poisoning symptoms. The severity of symptoms is related to the amount of histamine in the food and the self-sensitivity of the population. Histamine is the only biogenic amine whose intake is restricted by European law, which limits the amount of histamine in fresh fish to 200 mg/kg and in fish products to 400 mg/kg. According to the National Health Standard for Marine Fish (GB2733-94), the histamine in mackerel should not exceed 100 mg/100 g, and that in other fish should not exceed 30 mg/100 g.

Histamine is low in fresh fish, but increases greatly as the fish rots. When fish die, the body's defense system becomes inactive and histamine-producing microbes begin to proliferate. Fish with red skin and red meat (such as mackerel, tuna, bonito, mackerel, sardines, etc.) have a high content of histidine in their bodies. When stored improperly, they will produce more histamine under the action of bacteria. The resulting histamine cannot be removed by heating or freezing.

Histamine poisoning can lead to low blood pressure, flushing, headache, rubella, eyelid edema and other symptoms. Histamine poisoning can also cause abdominal muscle cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and other gastrointestinal reactions as well as palpitations, tachycardia and other symptoms.

Tai Wan Sheng is the world's third largest seafood company by revenue, with sales of 141 billion baht (38 euros / $4.4 billion) in 2021.

In the Chinese market, Tai Wansheng sells a variety of seafood products, including canned tuna, white shrimp under the brand of Osca, frozen Atlantic salmon and other products. The products are currently sold on JD.com, Tmall and Hema, among other online and offline channels.