It was smoked and grilled salmon from Lerøy Smögen Seafood that was the source of the outbreak in Sweden. The factory is owned by Norwegian Lerøy. But after several investigations, the Swedes have also concluded something else. It is likely that the infection came from Norway. Specifically from Lerøy Midt’s slaughterhouse. Repeated detections news can now present the listeria figures from the Norwegian salmon slaughterhouse. That is, from August 2022 to November 2023. This is the period when the listeria infection ravaged Sweden. “The results show more than 700 detections in the production environment, with around 320 of the detections in the slaughter department and around 370 in the filleting department.” This is revealed in a notice to the slaughterhouse from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. It mentions several serious conditions. “There are several places in production that have repeated detections over time, and in several cases there are detections on the same equipment on consecutive days,” it says. – We believe that 700 detections over a period of 15 months is a lot. On a general basis, the probability that the fish may be contaminated increases with the number of detections, says head of department Ivar Eiken in the Food Safety Authority in Trondheim and the surrounding area to news. He has signed the notice. Resident bacteria – I think the number is high, says senior researcher Taran Skjerdal at the Veterinary Institute. She is considered one of the country’s foremost experts on listeria. Taran Skjerdal has a PhD in biochemistry and is considered one of the country’s foremost researchers on listeria. Photo: VKM – And if these are findings on equipment where one would not normally expect to find listeria, then it is very high, says Skjerdal. Listeria is a bacterium that occurs naturally in the environment. But it multiplies quickly. And is a challenge in food production. The bacterium is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, the elderly and people with underlying diseases. The basis for the entire inspection case at Lerøy’s slaughterhouse is a notice that came from the Swedish health authorities in 2023. The Swedes maintained that the source of the serious outbreak of listeria was probably at Lerøy Midt. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority carried out an inspection at the slaughterhouse in November. The inspectors estimated that the listeria bacteria had become resident: “Sampling results may indicate that you are unable to reset the equipment through washing/disinfection and that house strains may have established themselves”. Inadequate food safety This is what the listeria bacteria looks like when it is grown in the laboratory Photo: Kristin Pettersen / Veterinærinstituttet The Norwegian Food Safety Authority now writes in January: “According to our assessment, the test results indicate that you do not have adequate management of identified hazards. » In the notice, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority makes several points where it is critical of Lerøy Midt: When the Swedish Food Safety Authority notified the report from Sweden, it should have been handled as a deviation. That Lerøy has not done this is to be regarded as a breach of the rules. Lerøy has not been able to better control the presence of listeria in production. Lerøy does not take care of food safety in an adequate way. Lerøy should have measures against the next paragraph when listeria is detected. The salmon lawyers prevailed The last point in particular has been controversial in the farming industry. In 2021, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority wanted to introduce a general notification obligation for salmon slaughterhouses. This means that if they detected listeria on the product or in the environment, the next link in the food chain should be notified. So for those who process the fish, for example for smoked salmon. The salmon industry spent many hundreds of thousands of kroner on lawyers to fight this. In the end, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority turned around. – This is a lot, says head of department Ivar Eiken in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority about the listeria findings at Lerøy Midt. Photo: The Norwegian Food Safety Authority A very special case The findings at Lerøy Midt på Hitra make the question topical again. – We are not talking about a general obligation to notify, says Ivar Eiken. – This is a very special case, he says. And refers to what is written in the notice to Lerøy: “You should consider introducing further measures against recipients who produce ready-to-eat seafood. Also: “Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to ensuring that the food they produce is safe” Will not answer news has asked Lerøy to respond to the criticism that appears in the notice from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. The company does not want that. “The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has not taken any decision in the matter. This is an ongoing process and we must respond to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority by the deadline.” This is what communications director Aina Valland in Lerøy writes to news. She believes that the notice contains several errors. But when asked by news, she does not want to elaborate on which errors are involved. She refers to a press release that Lerøy sent out on 28 November last year. It says, among other things: “We are very sorry that there are many indications that someone has become ill after eating smoked products from our Swedish plant. It cannot be ruled out that Listeria has entered the factory in Smögen, with raw material from one of Lerøy’s salmon packing plants in Norway. Lerøy is now collaborating with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to get to the bottom of this.” Aina Valland, communications director at Lerøy Photo: Lerøy In connection with the outbreak in Sweden, Valland wrote the following to news just before Christmas: “The regulations are designed to maximize food safety, and slaughterhouses/packers are not required to notify further in the value chain. Lerøy has nevertheless implemented measures at the facilities in Norway and information is provided to recipients of salmon that may be linked to listeria so that they take the necessary measures in their further production to ensure safe products on the market.” Hello! 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Major listeria findings in Lerøy Midt’s salmon slaughterhouse – news Dokumentar
