Keeping food safe: Listeria and cold-smoked fish

28.08.2017

We all know food safety is crucial, especially when working with lightly preserved seafood. This type of seafood can - when not handled properly - be a basis for the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, which under ideal circumstances for growth can cause the very serious illness Listeriosis. With more than 20 years of expertise in handling this delicate food, Royal Greenland has developed a method that completely eliminates the risk of bacterial growth.

At Royal Greenland's smokehouse in Hirtshals, Denmark we have been producing lightly preserved seafood for more than 20 years, working with hot smoked, cold smoked and marinated fish. We consider food safety to be the most important criteria in delivering a high quality product and because of this we have developed a 3-step method to eliminate growth of the dangerous bacteria in our products:

Raw material supply

Food safety starts before our seafood arrives at the smokehouse, at the suppliers and fishermen procuring the raw material. Strict quality demands for our suppliers and careful handling of the fish before it enters production, ensures that the quality of the raw material is excellent.

Daily cleaning

It is obvious that hygiene is essential when working with food production. But at our smokehouse we have taken it to the next level by implementing strict cleaning as a part of the daily routine, which ensures that any contaminants that may have entered the production, for example via raw material, are eliminated.

What is listeria?

Listeriosis is caused by bacteria and is most commonly contracted through food such as cheese made from unpasteurized milk and ready-to-eat products of meat or seafood. For a healthy person a case of Listeriosis is most likely not critical, but for elderly, children or others with health conditions it can be a very serious condition.

Stabilizing to eliminate growth of bacteria

As a final precaution, a direct result of a research project in cooperation with DTU, Royal Greenland uses acidifiers in the salting process, in order to stabilize the products and prevent growth of bacteria, should there be any present. The research project showed that by adding certain organic acids and thereby lowering the pH value of the product, it was possible to stop any listeria growth during the shelf life of the product.

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