Dive Brief:
- The FDA closed Jensen’s Old Fashioned Smokehouse in Seattle, Washington, after environmental samples confirmed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono) in the facility.
- The FDA collected and analyzed environmental samples during a recent inspection of the company’s facility. The samples confirmed the presence of L. mono in the building, which included both food processing and storage areas.
- Jensen’s must meet several requirements in order to resume operations, including hiring an expert to develop a Sanitation Standard Operation Procedure and an environmental microbial monitoring program for L. mono, on top of thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing the facility. Samples of all vacuum-packed smoked fishery products at the company must be tested for L. mono, with the results provided to the FDA.
Dive Insight:
Recently there have been a number of incidents of Listeria monocytogenes found at cheese production plants, including Roos Foods, which the FDA ordered to shut down. In that case, the contamination did lead to serious illnesses in several states, including one death. Happily, there is no report of such in connection to Jensen's. Hopefully the shut down will prevent such news from coming to light.