Lerøy facing new listeria discovery claims

The Lerøy Seafood Company has been hit by claims of a new discovery of the listeria bacterium at one of its Norwegian sites, according to Norway’s national broadcaster NRK.

NRK says the discovery is at a Lerøy Midt slaughterhouse in Trondelag county.

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has told Lerøy that it must inform its customers of the discovery.

Two years ago several people in Sweden were taken ill with listeria complications resulting in seven deaths.

The Swedish Food Safety Authority said salmon was the likely source but Lerøy has challenged claims that it came from its sites.

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has kept a close eye on some of the company’s sites since the Swedish incidents and said in a recent report that little seems to have changed since 2022.

NRK said at the weekend that more cases have now been found at the butchery and filleting departments at one of the company’s slaughterhouses. It also says that the company has a greater risk potential than is desirable.

Lerøy’s Head of Quality, Anne-Hilde Midttveit, told NRK that the type of listeria found at the site was common in the local environment and the industry in general.

She said it has not been determined where the outbreak originated, adding that food safety was of the highest priority at the company which had implemented all the recommendations from the food safety authority.

Lerøy issued a statement in January outlining how it plans to combat the company’s recent listeria problems.

Lerøy CEO Henning Beltestad said at the time: “In our operations, we have always focused on minimising the occurrence of listeria and providing accurate and comprehensive information to our customers and public authorities.

“We have an integrated value chain for salmon production, which gives us the best conditions to ensure safe and healthy products for consumers.”