Brooklyn Distributor Recalls Frozen Smoked Salmon After Listeria Test

Krasnyi Oktyabr Inc. of Brooklyn is recalling 8-ounce packages of frozen Starfish Seafood Premium Cold Smoked Norwegian Salmon after a New York State regulator's sample tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes. The product reached retail channels in six states: New York, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The recall covers a single lot. The details operators and distributors need to check against inventory:

• Product: STARFISH SEAFOOD PREMIUM COLD SMOKED NORWEGIAN SALMON SLICED
• Net weight: 227g/8oz, frozen, vacuum-sealed plastic package
• UPC: 4751048940099
• Best before: 27.11.2027, Lot D080-148
• Country of origin: Latvia

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets identified the contamination through routine product sampling. Krasnyi Oktyabr initiated the recall and is cooperating with that agency and the FDA. The company did not manufacture the product; it acted as a wholesale distributor and has told affected customers to stop selling the salmon, locate remaining inventory and notify their own customers.

Why the long shelf life raises the stakes?

The best-before date of November 2027 means the product can sit in commercial and consumer freezers for two years. That is the recall's central operational risk. Frozen inventory does not move quickly, so cases of the contaminated lot may surface in distributor warehouses and restaurant freezers long after the recall notice fades from view. The 227g retail-format package suggests the product moved through grocery and specialty channels rather than foodservice bulk packs, but distributors were instructed to cascade the notice downstream.

No illnesses have been reported to date. That figure is a snapshot, not a conclusion. Listeria has an unusually long incubation period. Symptoms of listeriosis can take up to 70 days after exposure to appear, so the epidemiological picture will not be clear for weeks.

What should buyers and operators do now?

Any operator holding the lot should pull it immediately. Consumers who bought the salmon should not eat it and should return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. The company has set no deadline for returns, and the recall notice does not say how many units the lot contained.

That gap matters. Without a unit count, neither distributors nor regulators can gauge how much contaminated product remains in circulation. The notice also does not identify the Latvian manufacturer, so buyers cannot check whether other lots or products from the same plant share the exposure.

What is the health risk?

Contaminated food may not look, smell or taste spoiled. Symptoms include vomiting, nausea, persistent fever, muscle aches, severe headache and neck stiffness. Diagnosis requires specific laboratory tests because the infection mimics other illnesses.

Pregnant women, the elderly, young children and people with weakened immune systems face the greatest risk. Infected pregnant women may show only mild, flu-like symptoms, yet the infection can cause premature delivery, newborn infection or stillbirth. Anyone who ate the recalled salmon and developed symptoms should seek medical care and disclose the possible Listeria exposure. Anyone who ate it should monitor for symptoms through the full 70-day window.

The FDA's recall enforcement report will determine whether this stays a Class II event or escalates. For now, the six-state footprint, the two-year shelf life and the unnamed manufacturer give buyers reason to audit their freezers and their supplier documentation rather than trust the lot list alone.