Take heed of listeria warnings

PREGNANT women have been warned about an outbreak of listeria from smoked fish and told to avoid eating mackerel and uncooked salmon.

Listeria is a bacteria which can cause a serious bout of food poisoning, known medically as listeriosis. For most people, the illness is unpleasant but goes away after a few days.

But for pregnant women, food poisoning can cause major problems, leading to miscarriage or stillbirth as well as serious infections in newborns.

Listeria is usually associated with sliced meats and shellfish, meaning many people are unaware it can also be found in smoked fish. Since 2020, only 12 cases of listeriosis have been linked to smoked fish in the UK. Although this is a small number, six of them have occurred since January, and this is enough to be classed as an outbreak.