KUALA LUMPUR – Mussel sales remain unaffected despite the recent food poisoning cluster in Port Dickson, said seafood sellers in local wet markets.
Speaking to Scoop, Teh Chuen, 42, a vendor at the Chow Kit Market here, said people were still buying mussels without bothering about the recent incidents of food poisoning.
He claimed that because mussels were only available during certain seasons, they were hard to find in marketplaces and did not command as much customer demand as other seafood products.
The market vendor mentioned that he purchased his mussels from a local supplier from Johor, and they were packaged as frozen seafood.
“The mussels I buy come from Muar, Johor. They are not the fresh ones, but it’s a pre-packed frozen item, so there are no issues of causing food poisoning,” said Teh.
Ayuni Ibrahim, 38, a helper at a seafood hawker stall in the Pudu wet market, echoed, similar to Teh, that mussel sales were not affected.
She said she was aware of the food poisoning incidents in Port Dickson, yet she was not bothered by them as the mussels sold at her stall were supplied from Langkawi, Kedah.
When asked about ways to identify healthy mussels that would be safe for eating, Ayuni advised checking the shells before buying.
“If the shells (of the mussels) are closed, they are alive and healthy. If they’re opened, it means the mussels are dead or old.
“Sometimes we can check the freshness by the smell too. If it smells bad, it’s the spoiled mussels,” she said.
On Tuesday, eight cases of food poisoning believed to be caused by mussels were recorded in Port Dickson.
Among them, two are reported as experiencing paralysis, five cases are undergoing treatment, and one is under outpatient care, said Negri Sembilan Health Department director Datuk Dr Harlina Abdul Rashid.
Earlier today, the results of the Kuala Lumpur Fisheries Biosecurity Centre’s laboratory analysis found that there were harmful algae that contaminated mussels in Port Dickson’s waters, rendering them unsafe to eat. – April 4, 2024