S’pore Food Agency Recalls a Batch of Norwegian Salmon; Advises People to Cook It Thoroughly

By
Wayne Loh
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Amongst all the food in the world that are divisive, salmon is one of the rare ones that is an exception.

Seriously, I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like any form of salmon.

Be it the raw salmon sashimi in Japanese restaurants or grilled salmon steaks in Western cuisine restaurants, everybody loves salmon.

Despite several red flags about salmon, we still feast on the tender and tantalising treats.

We don’t care about the worms. We don’t care about the farmed salmon.

We’d take the risk because life is too short to restrict ourselves from life’s simplest pleasures.

But well, there are some red flags you can’t ignore.

Bacteria Found In Norwegian Salmon

Having one of the best salmon (in my opinion), Norway is one of the most popular sources that people like to import from.

If you’re like me and loves Norwegian salmon, you may need to worry. Especially if you’ve bought any recently.

A batch of Atlantic salmon imported from Norway has recently been recalled under an order from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).

The batch imported by Yu Fish Pte Ltd on 25 July 2019 was detected with a strain of bacteria known as Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria, not Listerine the mouthwash. Fun fact: they’re both named after a British surgeon Sir Joseph Lister.

The bacteria can cause an infection known as Listeriosis, which induces fever and diarrhoea, especially common in pregnant women and their newborns, adults aged 65 or older, and people with weakened immune systems.

What can be done?

First up – if you’re unsure if the salmon you bought is affected, you can check with the retail outlet where you made the purchase.

Next, thorough cooking kills the Listeria bacteria, so fret not. But make sure you cook it well, and hopefully you weren’t planning on making sashimi with it.

But in any case, affected or not, it’s always good to practice good hygiene when handling raw food in order to prevent food poisoning.

Here are some tips you could follow:

  • Thoroughly wash raw vegetables and fruits before eating. Peel them if
    necessary;
  • Thoroughly cooking raw seafood and food from animal sources (i.e. beef,
    pork, poultry, etc.);
  • Keeping uncooked meats separate from vegetables, fruits, cooked and ready-to-eat food;
  • Avoiding raw (unpasteurized) milk or foods made from raw milk;
  • Washing hands and kitchen utensils such as knives and cutting boards after
    handling raw food; and
  • Using separate sets of knives and cutting board for raw and
    cooked food.

You could read up more on the media release by SFA here.

Happy salmon feasting!

Just be careful not to get salmonella.

Get it, eh? Salmonella?

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Wayne Loh
Email: [email protected]