St. James Smokehouse Inc. is conducting a voluntary recall of its Scotch Reserve Whiskey & Honey Smoked Scottish Salmon, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just announced. The four-ounce packs, lot code 5797 and batch code 4759 with UPC# 853729001151 are being recalled due to potential contamination with Listeria Monocytogenes.
To date, no Listeria illnesses have been linked to any product produced by St. James Smokehouse; however, the symptoms of Listeria poisoning can take some time to manifest and become apparent.
For susceptible populations and the elderly, food poisoning infection with the Listeria pathogen can cause significant illness linked to issues with the central nervous system as well as the developing fetus and placenta. As we have long reported, consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause Listeriosis, a potentially fatal foodborne illness. While healthy people rarely contract Listeriosis, the symptoms of Listeria foodborne illness are high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, nausea, Abdominal Cramps and pain, and diarrhea.
The problem was discovered after routine sampling by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. During the sampling, one 4-ounce package tested positive out of three packages sampled.
The 600 pounds of the product that is subject to the recall was distributed and sold in The Fresh Market stores located in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Louisiana, Maryland, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York.
The code number “lot code 5797, batch code 4759, and UPC# 853729001151” is located on a white label on the rear of the package. This is the only batch and UPC affected.
Consumers who have purchased this product should not ingest it and are advised to return the recalled product to the place of purchase for a full refund. St. James Smokehouse can be reached at 1-305-461-0231, Monday through Friday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time.
Listeria monocytogenes reportedly infects about 2,500 people in the U.S., killing 500, and is known to result in serious, sometimes fatal, infections in those with weakened immune systems, such as infants, the elderly, persons with HIV infection, and those undergoing chemotherapy.
In pregnant women, Listeria food poisoning can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, or the birth of a baby suffering from the infection. Pregnant women are about 20 times likelier than others to be infected; Listeriosis can kill fetuses, prompt premature births, and can lead to hearing loss or brain damage in newborns, and can prompt neurological effects and cardiorespiratory failure in adults, as was revealed in a recent study.
