P97-25 FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Arthur Whitmore: (202) 205-4144 August 5, 1997 Consumer Holine: (800) 532-4440 FDA WARNS PUBLIC AGAINST ROYAL LINE SMOKED SALMON The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to purchase or eat Royal Line brand of smoked salmon because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infection in small children, frail or elderly people, and people with weakened immune systems. Listeria infection also may cause miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women. The salmon is imported from Denmark and is labeled Royal Line brand Smoked Salmon, Faroe Islands. Packaging does not carry a product code. It is sold presliced, skinless and boneless in 2.5 pound heat-sealed vacuum plastic bags. The salmon was imported by Marine Marketing Intl. Inc., of Boca Raton, Fla. The importer has initiated its own recall of the product and has ceased importing it from the Danish processor. The scope of distribution of the product is uncertain however, because the sole distributor of the product, Marcos Marketing Innovations Co. of Marietta, Ga., has refused to cooperate in providing information or recalling the salmon. Marcos Marketing has indicated preliminarily that the product was sold to Jewish temples in the Los Angeles, Calif., area for fundraising events. It is possible, however, that product was distributed elsewhere in the United States. The recall of the salmon was initiated as a result of routine FDA sampling of imports. No illnesses have been reported to date. Symptoms of listeria infection include high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. ####