Polar fish factory Salmon Hjerting Laks in Esbjerg is reported to the police for the third time this year.
TV Syd writes this on the basis of an inspection report from the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, which has reported the company to the police.
Polar Salmon Hjerting Laks is 100 percent owned by the Danish group Polar Seafood Denmark, of which the Greenlandic group Polar Seafood Greenland owns half.
The report mentions a number of points of criticism from the agency, including the fact that the company adds brine and water to luxury products without declaring it.
It appears here that in several products 7.5 percent is added via so-called salting, which can mean that there is more than five percent water in the product without water being declared.
This also means, according to the agency, that the percentage indication of fish on the packaging may be too high and therefore misleading, as the brine is then counted as fish.
The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration has further fined the fish factory 30,000 kroner.
Polar Salmon Hjerting Laks writes in the report that it adds brine to avoid a too dry product.
In addition, the company will "look into the problem", but does not agree with all the assessments from the agency.
Director of Polar Salmon Hjerting Laks, Jesper Kelly Innes, states in a written response to FødæreWatch that since this summer the company has been in the process of changing the labeling of the products that the agency has cracked down on.
- It has absolutely not been an aim to mislead, which we ourselves have been aware of and changed several months ago. In relation to the added water, this evaporates during drying and smoking, which is why we have assessed that the labeling so far has been adequate, says the director to the media.
The fish factory in Esbjerg has received a lot of attention in particular after the sale of listeria-infected salmon.
Listeria is a disease that can be particularly serious for pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
Infection with listeria can cause symptoms of fever, diarrhea and vomiting.
Listeria can be found in many foods - both in meat, vegetables, unpasteurized dairy products and processed fish products.
At the beginning of the year, Polar Hjerting Salmon Laks was reported to the police by the Danish Food and Drug Administration for having sold listeria-infected salmon without informing the authorities.
During a check, nine analyzes for the period 2023-2024 showed positive results for listeria.
The board concluded in a report that the company had "access and knowledge" of the analyses, but had "failed to act".
The Esbjerg company pointed out in this connection that "what has been found has happened under former employees".
Barely two months later, the company was reported to the police again.
According to TV Syd, the reason for this was that the company did not contact the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration in connection with the withdrawal of fish with listeria when it was detected in November 2024.
The Statens Serum Institut (SSI) then announced that salmon from the Esbjerg company could be linked to 27 cases of disease with invasive listeria. JutskeVestkysten wrote it.
All of the infected, which SSI could trace back to the company in the period 2018 to 2024, had been hospitalized.
According to the media, four of the infected people had died within 30 days of being diagnosed with listeria.
/Ritzau/
