The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a Food Alert for Action asking district councils to make sure that two smoked mackerel products are withdrawn from sale and destroyed. The products are an unwrapped cold smoked mackerel and a wrapped hot smoked mackerel.
A business must register its premises with the environmental health service at its local authority at least 28 days before opening. In addition, if the business works with certain types of food that might pose a significant risk to consumers, the business must be approved by its local authority. More information about registration and approved premises can be found at the links below.
Despite enquiries by district council officers, it has not been possible to obtain full distribution details or product traceability records for these products. However, distribution is believed to be throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, mainly to businesses that sell Eastern European food products.
Product detailsThe two products are:
- unwrapped cold smoked mackerel
- hot smoked mackerel in a gold-coloured foil vacuum pack
- the wording 'The Smoke House Hot Smoked Mackeral' (where the word 'mackerel' is misspelled) printed on it
- a flag emblem in the colours white, blue and red
- an EU approval number in an oval-shaped circle – the approval number that appears is 'UK 9502 EC'
- the 'use by' date
- the weight in kilograms (kg)
- the price by weight (Euro/kg)
- the price in Euro
The flag emblem and the approval number may not always appear on the individual packs.
Images of these products can be found at the links below. A 'use by' date of 02/03/10 is shown on the packaging in the photograph but a different 'use by' date may be on a label. All date codes are implicated and must be withdrawn from sale and destroyed.
Actions to be taken by district councils in Northern IrelandAs the fishery products were manufactured in unapproved premises they do not comply with the requirements of Regulation EC 853/2004 and the Food Hygiene Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006.
District councils are asked to visit businesses that sell Eastern European food products in their area to make sure that the products are withdrawn from sale and destroyed, if necessary using powers under the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 and Regulation 25 of the Food Hygiene Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006.
If a district council’s officers find these products or other products with ‘The Smoke House’ on the label, they are asked to tell the Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland immediately and provide further details.
