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Haifa Smoked Fish Recalled for Listeria

By Dan Flynn and Suzanna Schreck

D & M Smoked Fish, Inc., which does business as Haifa Smoked Fish, announced this week that the company was recalling specific lots of its Haifa Smoked Fish brand products due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.

The recalled products, which were sold in vacuum-packed plastic packaging, were sold between Aug. 10, 2010 and Sept. 3, 2010 to retailers and distributors in greater New York, New Jersey, and areas of Illinois. A sample of fish tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revealed the contamination, which led to enforcement of a previous court order requiring production and distribution of the products to cease.

Listeria is a bacterium that can cause gastrointestinal illness in healthy individuals.  If the infection spreads to the nervous system, symptoms such as headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, or convulsions can occur.  

In immune-deficient individuals, Listeria can invade the central nervous system, causing meningitis and/or encephalitis (brain infection). Infected pregnant women ordinarily experience only a mild, flu-like illness; however, infection during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, infection of the newborn or even stillbirth.

According to a company press release, the recalled Haifa Smoked Fish products were air-packed in bulk boxes and vacuum-packed in various sized plastic packages including 4 oz., 8 oz., 16 oz., and random weight sizes.   Lot numbers appear on the bottom of the gold boards, labels, and/or on bulk boxes.

The recalled lot numbers are:  220; 221; 222; 223; 224; 225; 227; 228; 229; 230; 231; 232; 234; 235; 236; 237; 238; 239; 241; 242; 243 & 244.  The following products are subject to recall:

?    Cold Smoked Salmon
?    Cold Smoked Semga
?    Hot Smoked Semga
?    Cold Smoked Butterfish
?    Cold Smoked Butterfish - Salmon
?    Cold Smoked Sprats
?    Cold Smoked Capelin
?    Cold Smoked Sea Bass
?    Cold Smoked Sea Bass & Salmon
?    Hot Smoked Sea Bass
?    Cold Smoked Whitefish
?    Hot Smoked Whitefish
?    Cold Smoked Mackerel
?    Hot Smoked Mackerel Fillets
?    Hot Smoked Mackerel
?    Cold Smoked Turbot
?    Cold Smoked Herring
?    Shmaltz Herring
?    Herring in oil - glass jars
?    Hot Smoked Sable
?    Cold Smoked Rainbow Trout
?    Hot Smoked Gold Brook Trout
?    Cold Smoked Gold Brook Trout
?    Dry Capelin
?    Hot Smoked Lake Trout
?    Hot Smoked Paddle Fish

Consumers who have purchased any of the above lot codes of Haifa Smoked Fish brand products are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.  Anyone with questions may contact the company at 718-523-8899, Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Fridays until 2 p.m. ET.

Full post as published by Food Safety News on October 09, 2010 (boomark / email).