Harvest Road’s Leeuwin Coast issues recall for Albany Rock Oysters after E. coli was found in May 20 batch

Albany’s largest aquaculture business has been forced to recall some of its produce after E. coli was found in last week’s batch of rock oysters.

Leeuwin Coast, run by Harvest Road, issued a recall on Friday for its bistro and bottle Albany rock oysters harvested on May 20.

A Harvest Road spokesperson said only a small portion of last week’s harvest was contaminated by the bacteria.

“Only 8 per cent of last week’s oyster harvest was affected and Harvest Road has been working closely with the affected wholesalers, who have informed us that most oysters did not make it to market,” they said.

“We received the test results on Thursday evening and we acted immediately.

“The three affected wholesalers who had received stock were informed that night (and) an official FSANZ product recall was issued on Friday morning as per our legal obligations.”

E. coli is a type of bacteria that lives in the gut of humans and animals.

Symptoms include diarrhoea, stomach cramps, nausea and fever.

No sickness was reported and further testing revealed no other issues in subsequent batches.

The spokesperson said this was the first time Harvest Road had received a non-compliant test result, citing the company’s “well-defined quality assurance process”.

“It is fairly common across the oyster industry that some shellfish is recalled, but due to the quality of water in Albany and our routine testing regime it is not common for Harvest Road,” they said.

“Harvest Road is committed to providing the freshest, highest-quality oysters and will always act immediately if there is any risk.”

The affected wholesalers received a credit and new oysters that have passed testing.