Sam's Club has recalled smoked salmon distributed by Multiexport Foods, Inc. If you have purchased this product, you may want to check this website to ensure that your food is safe.
The affected product according to the press release is "cold smoked salmon, 12 oz Twin Pack and the 1.25 lb Pack" under the name "Paramount Reserve."
Recalled smoked salmon has been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, described as:
...an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. The recall is being expanded to include additional lot-sublot-batch codes.
States where the product was sold include: Alabama, Arkansas, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Montana, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Virginia, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
The Morning Call states that some have already been affected, although no deaths are reported yet. Judy Payne, a nurse, apparently did not see the email that Sam's Club sent out to affected customers until both she and her had already eaten the fish. Both became violently ill:
"I was down all day Thursday, I couldn't get out of bed," Payne said.
The bacteria affecting the product can not only cause great pain if you serve it on New Years, but can also cause fatal infections in the elderly, the young, and people with weak immune systems.
