People who are pregnant or have a weakened immune system are more likely to suffer severe symptoms from listeria infection and are advised to avoid eating ready-to-eat cold-smoked or cured fish products.
As the risk of serious illness from listeriosis increases with age, older adults should also be aware of the risk of eating cold-smoked and cured fish and take steps to prevent listeria infection. These steps include:
- eating foods by the use-by dates
- ensuring the product is kept refrigerated (below 5°C)
- considering the safer alternatives
Safer alternatives for those at higher risk of listeria infection include:
- cooked smoked fish - this can be in dishes such as quiche, fish cakes, pie or gratin:
- cooking will kill any listeria that may be present
- if you're cooking smoked fish yourself, make sure it is steaming hot all the way through and served or chilled immediately
- cooked smoked fish may be served cold after being chilled in the fridge.
- care should be taken with adding cold-smoked or cured fish to dishes like cooked pasta or scrambled eggs
- cook the fish first as warming it through as you prepare your meal will not heat the fish to a high enough temperature to kill listeria.
- tinned/canned smoked fish
- thoroughly cooked fish fillets (which are purchased fresh or frozen)
Cold-smoked fish (for example smoked salmon or trout) or cured fish such as gravlax are fish products that have not undergone a full cooking step during production and therefore present a high risk of listeria infection. This includes sushi which is prepared using cold-smoked or cured fish.
Cold-smoked fish is normally labelled as ‘smoked’ fish on packaging. It has been cured (for example in salt) and then smoked at a low temperature, but it is not cooked through. Ready-to-eat cold-smoked fish typically come in thin slices, as shown in the image below. Examples include smoked trout slices and smoked salmon slices.
