Measures taken by Estonian authorities following a Listeria outbreak have improved the fish control system, according to the European Commission.
A remote DG Sante audit, in October 2020, looked at checks to ensure smoked fish meets microbiological food safety criteria, as well as measures taken by authorities in non-compliances.
Eight Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) reports for Listeria monocytogenes in smoked fishery products from Estonia have been issued since 2015. All but one concerned the same establishment.
A multi-country outbreak of 22 listeriosis cases linked to cold-smoked salmon and trout pointed toward M.V Wool, an Estonian processing company as the manufacturer of these fish products. This was based on traceability information and a match between the outbreak strain and samples on the processing line and in four batches of the final product. Five countries were affected from 2014 to 2019 and five people died.
FoodWorld 