Food Alert In Spain After Outbreak Of Listeria Detected In A Batch Of Smoked Salmon

AESAN, the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition has activated a food alert in Spain for a batch of smoked salmon.

The health authorities of the Community of Madrid issued the notice to AESAN after detecting the presence of the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. It is currently unknown if there are any affected consumers.

⚠️ Alerta por presencia de Listeria monocytogenes en salmón ahumado.
🚫 No consumir
📌 https://t.co/ysEtWp2Dbq pic.twitter.com/817dSfJuap

— AESAN (@AESAN_gob_es) August 11, 2023

Shoppers who might have this affected product at home are advised by the Agency to refrain from consuming it. In the case of already having ingested: ‘any of the products from the affected batches and presenting symptoms compatible with listeriosis (vomiting, diarrhoea or fever), it is recommended they attend a health centre.

At the moment, it is known that the product has been distributed in the Community of Madrid, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, and Murcia.

However, it is not ruled out that it could have been redistributed to other autonomous communities. ‘This information has been transferred to the competent authorities of the autonomous communities through the Coordinated System for Rapid Information Exchange (SCIRI) in order to verify the withdrawal of affected products from marketing channels’, said Aesan in a statement.

The product is from the Joalpesca brand

The name of the affected product is Smoked Salmon Host C/PE distributed by the brand Joalpesca. It is sold in packages of 1-1.5 kilos.

As stated by AESAN, the product in question has an expiry date of 08/14/2023, with the batch number E675C1528 3, and the barcode 2249134 011409.

AESAN pointed out in its statement that the information published was the result of the self-monitoring of the company itself, which communicated the incident to the competent authorities, in compliance with the legislation, in order not to make unsafe food available to the population.

AESAN gave an advisory for pregnant women

In the case of pregnant women, the Agency advised they consult the recommendations for consumption during pregnancy made by the AESAN OA regarding important food hygiene practices for pregnant women.

This also includes a list of foods that should be avoided during pregnancy as they are associated with certain biological hazards (among which Listeria monocytogenes stand out).