Cold Smoked Salmon Recalled Over Listeria: Check This Lot Before Your Next Meal Prep

Cold smoked salmon is one of my favorite meal-prep shortcuts: no cooking, high protein, ready to drop onto a bagel, a grain bowl, or a salad for the week. So this Listeria recall is one I’m flagging, because smoked fish is a repeat offender when it comes to this particular bug.

What’s being recalled

Krasnyi Oktyabr Inc. of Brooklyn, New York, is voluntarily recalling its Starfish Seafood Trio - Cold Smoked Salmon, Halibut, and Trout because it may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recall was triggered after New York State food inspectors sampled the product and lab testing found Listeria in some packages. No illnesses have been reported so far.

How to identify it

• 8-ounce vacuum-sealed plastic package
• Lot number D139149161-153 stamped on the label
• Expiration date December 1, 2027

It was distributed in six states: New York, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Why Listeria and smoked fish are a bad match

Listeria is the frustrating one because it grows even at refrigerator temperatures, and cold-smoked fish is never cooked to kill it. For most healthy adults it might mean an upset stomach, but for pregnant people, newborns, older adults, and anyone with a weakened immune system it can cause a serious infection. Symptoms can show up days or even weeks later and include fever, muscle aches, and sometimes nausea or diarrhea. If you’re pregnant, it can lead to miscarriage or stillbirth, which is why the caution here is not an overreaction.

What to do

Check the lot number and date on any Starfish Seafood Trio in your fridge. If it matches, don’t eat it, return it to the store for a refund, and give the fridge drawer it sat in a quick wipe-down, since Listeria can linger on surfaces. If you ate it recently and run a fever or feel flu-ish, call your doctor and mention the possible exposure.

A safer smoked-fish meal prep

I’m not giving up my salmon bowls over this. For higher-risk folks, the simple swap is to heat the fish until steaming hot before eating, which knocks out Listeria, or build your prep around hot-smoked or canned salmon instead. Flake it over rice with cucumber and a quick yogurt-dill sauce and you’ve got four days of lunches sorted in about 15 minutes.

- Olivia Bennett