APIA Samoa  — Ah Liki Wholesale has issued a public notice to clarify the recalled Chefs Choice tuna in Oil products as supplied from Vietnam.

Jerry Brunt of the Ah Liki Wholesale Management says the letter they requested from the Ministry of Health, and which was widely circulated in the media, relates to events starting 10 months ago.

“Ten months ago, we received a batch of Chefs Choice Tuna from a supplier in Vietnam which we discovered tainted product. Working together with the Ministry of Health, we acted immediately to recall and cease the sale of these products and quarantine the stock on hand at the time.

“For the next five months, we stopped selling Chefs Choice Tuna as we sought to clear this product from the local market.  The letter from the Ministry of Health relates only to this product from Vietnam,” Brunt says.

“Since this event, we immediately stopped importing canned tuna from Vietnam and switched our supply to a new supplier in Thailand. We have been receiving and selling Chefs Choice Tuna from Thailand since December 2012 with no reported problems.”

The company is asking members of the public who may have the Vietnam labeled Chefs Choice to return the products for a full refund.

“Chefs Choice Tuna with label Product of Thailand is safe for consumption,” said Brunt.

Source: Ah Liki Wholesale media release