Brooklyn distributor recalls smoked salmon trio sold in six states over Listeria risk

A Brooklyn seafood wholesaler is recalling an entire lot of cold-smoked salmon, halibut and trout after state inspectors in New York found the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the bacteria responsible for one of the most dangerous classes of foodborne illness. The recall, filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by Krasnyi Oktyabr Inc., covers its Starfish Seafood Trio of cold-smoked salmon, halibut and trout, which reached stores and delis across six states before the contamination was flagged.

No illnesses have been linked to the product so far, according to the company's recall notice, but health officials are urging anyone who bought the packaged seafood to throw it out or return it rather than risk eating it, since Listeria can sicken people for weeks after exposure and does not always announce itself through smell, taste or appearance.

What was recalled, and where it went

The recalled item is sold under the Starfish Seafood brand as an 8-ounce vacuum-sealed package containing cold-smoked salmon, halibut and trout. Only a single lot is affected: number D139149161-153, with a "best by" date of December 1, 2027. The fish was packed in Latvia and distributed domestically by Krasnyi Oktyabr Inc., a wholesale distributor based in Brooklyn that, according to its own recall filing, did not manufacture the product itself.

From there, the trio of smoked fish moved into retail channels in New York, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina and South Carolina, the company says. Krasnyi Oktyabr has told the retailers and distributors who bought the product to stop selling it immediately, check whatever is left in their coolers and inventory rooms, and pass the warning along to their own customers. Consumers who still have a package are being told not to eat it and to bring it back to wherever they bought it for a full refund.

• Product: Starfish Seafood Trio — Cold Smoked Salmon, Halibut and Trout, 8 oz vacuum-sealed package
• Lot number: D139149161-153; best-by date December 1, 2027
• States where the product was sold: New York, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina
• Illnesses reported to date: none, per the company's recall notice

Why a smoked-fish recall gets this much attention

Cold-smoked fish sits in a category that food-safety specialists watch closely. Unlike fish that is cooked at high heat, cold-smoking cures the product at low temperatures that add flavor and extend shelf life without necessarily killing bacteria that may already be present, which is part of why ready-to-eat smoked seafood has been the subject of periodic Listeria recalls for years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that Listeria infections cause roughly 1,250 illnesses and about 170 deaths nationally in a typical year, making it, by the agency's own reckoning, the third-leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the United States even though confirmed cases are comparatively rare.

The bacteria is unusual among foodborne pathogens because it can grow slowly even inside a refrigerator, which is one reason health officials pay particular attention to vacuum-sealed, ready-to-eat products like smoked salmon that are meant to be eaten cold, straight from the package, with no cooking step to kill off any contamination that might be present.

Who faces the greatest risk

For most healthy adults, a Listeria infection causes a short, unpleasant bout of fever, muscle aches, nausea or diarrhea that resolves on its own. The danger is concentrated among a narrower group of people, and it is substantial enough that the company's own recall notice spells out the risk in blunt terms. In its filing with the FDA, Krasnyi Oktyabr described the hazard this way:

"Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women."

That warning tracks closely with CDC guidance, which singles out pregnant women, newborns, adults 65 and older, and anyone with a weakened immune system — including people undergoing cancer treatment, organ transplant recipients and people with diabetes or kidney disease — as facing meaningfully higher odds of a severe outcome. Symptoms can take anywhere from a few days to as long as 70 days to appear after eating contaminated food, which is why health officials ask people to keep watching for symptoms well after they have thrown away or returned a recalled product, rather than assuming they are in the clear after a few symptom-free days.

How the contamination was caught

The recall did not originate with a sick customer or a consumer complaint. According to the company's notice, now listed alongside hundreds of other active cases in the FDA's public recall database, the potential contamination was identified by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, whose food inspectors routinely pull samples of ready-to-eat products for laboratory testing. Once the state flagged the lot, Krasnyi Oktyabr began the recall voluntarily and says it is now cooperating with both the state agency and the FDA as the investigation continues. The company has not manufactured the product, underscoring how a single supplier's quality lapse can ripple outward to every wholesaler, grocer and deli that carried the item before anyone realized there was a problem.

Local television stations in the affected distribution footprint picked up the story as it spread beyond New York, with outlets including Charlotte's WSOC-TV running consumer alerts advising viewers to check their refrigerators for the specific lot number rather than assume any smoked salmon, halibut or trout is covered. Food-safety trade press, including Food Safety News, has also been tracking the recall closely, noting that the absence of confirmed illnesses so far does not mean the risk is theoretical, since Listeria cases can take weeks to surface and be linked back to a specific product.

What consumers and retailers should do now

Anyone who bought the Starfish Seafood Trio should check the lot number printed on the package rather than relying on memory of where or when it was purchased, since only the single lot is affected and other smoked-fish products from the same brand are not part of the recall. Retailers that received the product have been told to pull remaining inventory and notify their own customers, which means some of the public notice is likely to continue trickling out through store signage and point-of-sale alerts in the affected states over the coming days.

People who ate the recalled fish and are not experiencing symptoms are not advised to seek preventive treatment, but anyone who develops a high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea or abdominal pain after eating smoked fish purchased in the affected states should tell their doctor about the possible exposure, since Listeria infections are treated with antibiotics and early diagnosis matters most for the people at highest risk. Consumers with questions can also contact Krasnyi Oktyabr Inc. directly, and the company says it is handling the recall under the FDA's oversight. The agency has not yet published a formal risk classification for the recall, a designation that typically follows in its weekly enforcement report and indicates how serious regulators judge the health threat to be.