Number of seafood products found that could cause illness rises fourfold in a year
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There has been a fourfold increase in the number of seafood products that did or could have caused illness to consumers, new figures show.
The statistics have prompted State agency watchdogs to organise a series of special workshops in the coming weeks to examine why this is happening.
Seafood products were detected with listeria and norovirus and there was even a case where a salmon darne was found with a piece of metal in it.
The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA), the official agency with responsibility for the enforcement of food safety law in the seafood sector up to the point of retail, has confirmed to the that last year saw a more than a fourfold increase in the number of ‘food incidents’ investigated by it compared to 2021.
SFPA sources have indicated there seems to be no let-up in the increasing trend so far this year. During last year there were a total of 74 food incidents reported to the SFPA, up from just 17 in 2021.
Of this number, 21 were associated with the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and the Food Safety Authority Ireland (FSAI) issued food alerts for three of these food incidents.
The SFPA confirmed that during 2022, 23 incidents (37%) were reports of alleged illness following the consumption of live bivalve molluscs, in particular oysters.
Six incidents (10% of the overall total) were due to the detection of listeria monocytogenes in fishery products and five incidents (8% of total) were due to suspected norovirus — also known as the Winter Vomiting Bug — in shellfish.
Included under the SFPA’s remit is the assessment of food safety controls across the seafisheries and aquaculture sectors, including responsibility for food safety law enforcement across a range of 2,323 food business operators nationally.
A food incident is defined as any event where, based on the information available, there are concerns about the safety or quality of food requiring follow-up by the competent authorities in the interest of public health. The SFPA said a complaint may be received from an FBO (Food Business Operator), a consumer, another official agency or from an anonymous source.
The types of complaints ranged from a customer complaint due to the presence of multiple large bones in a salmon darne, a foreign object (a piece of metal) found in a smoked salmon product and a complaint regarding the use of an unauthorised biocidal product by an FBO.
All food incidents and complaints received by the SFPA are followed up and investigated. Corrective actions are put in place by the FBO to prevent re-occurrence which are then verified by the SFPA and, where required, enforcement action is taken.
A SFPA spokesman said it and the FSAI intend to hold a number of joint workshops in the coming weeks with various industry stakeholders to examine why there is an increase in food incidents. The types of establishments inspected include processing plants, dispatch centres and freezer vessels.