The FDA announced that its Import Divisions might detain, without physical examination, importations of enoki mushrooms from the Republic of Korea (ROK). This country-wide import alert, “Detention Without Physical Examination of Enoki Mushrooms from Korea (the Republic of) due to Listeria monocytogenes,” was issued to protect public health and help prevent the importation of enoki mushrooms that could be linked to human infections. In fiscal year 2021, FDA testing revealed that 43% of enoki mushrooms sampled from the ROK were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The Enoki outbreak accounted for 36 U.S. cases reported across 17 states, 12 cases in Canada, and six in Australia. The 36 U.S. cases yielded 31 hospitalizations and four deaths. From March 2020 through May 2022, sampling of enoki mushrooms from U.S. retail locations showed that L. monocytogenes was detected in multiple state samples, which led to 21 recalls of enoki mushrooms in the United States. Nine of the recalls were linked to enoki mushrooms grown in the ROK. After the 2020 outbreak, the FDA began implementing an Imported Specialty Mushroom Prevention Strategy. The FDA’s prevention strategies are affirmative, deliberate approaches undertaken by the agency to limit or prevent the recurrence of a root cause that led to an outbreak or adverse incident. @ https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-issues-country-wide-import-alert-enoki-mushrooms-republic-korea#:~:text=In%20fiscal%20year%202021%2C%20FDA,monocytogenes%20(L.%20monocytogenes)
