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A batch of smoked salmon was recently recalled by The Cooperative after fears emerged that the batch may have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, bacterium that is known to cause food poisoning.
The salmon was recalled after the Food Standards Agency (FSA) identified that some of the pre-packaged salmon may be contaminated. This happened over the Christmas period and concerned packs with a use-by date that fell between 21st and 24th December 2011.
Greater Risk
The festive season is a time when many people stock up on luxury food products such as smoked salmon that they may not usually buy at other times of the year, so the risk of more people than usual being affected was somewhat elevated.
Listeria bacteria can usually be killed by practicing good food hygiene during preparation and by cooking food thoroughly. However, as smoked salmon is often consumed raw, there are a number of food safety risks that could have presented themselves had anyone eaten the potentially contaminated salmon.
The NHS advises that good food hygiene practices should be observed when handling foods that are susceptible to contamination by Listeria and that refrigerators should be kept at a temperature between zero and five degrees Celsius.
People who purchased the potentially dangerous pre-packaged salmon from the Cooperative over Christmas were advised to take their purchase back to the shop to obtain a full refund. The Food Standards Agency often carries out similar product recalls whenever it feels the public may be at risk or whenever food safety is in jeopardy.
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