Stonington company recalls smoked salmon

STONINGTON – A Maine seafood company is recalling a batch of cold smoked salmon that was distributed to stores in Maine, Massachusetts and New York because of potential contamination that can cause serious health problems.

Stonington Sea Products Inc. said Wednesday it is recalling retail packages of 4, 8 and 12 ounces, and sliced and unsliced sides with sell dates by May 8. The seafood was vacuum-packed in plastic bags.

The company says the salmon may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a common bacteria that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and those with weakened immune systems.

Healthy people may suffer only short-term symptoms such as fever, headache, stiffness, abdominal pain and nausea.

The listeria bacteria was discovered during an annual inspection in April by the federal Food and Drug Administration, said Willis Cobb, supervisory inspector at the FDA’s Augusta office.

The company said its cold smoked salmon was distributed to three retail stores, one each in Maine, Massachusetts and New York, to two restaurants in Maine and one in Minnesota, and by mail order to four customers, including one each in Massachusetts and New Jersey and two in New York.

The names of the stores were not immediately released Wednesday by the company or by the FDA.

No illnesses had been reported as of Wednesday.