The Food and Drug Administration has told consumers, retailers, and restaurants not to eat, sell, or serve any cold smoked sprats sold by Haifa Smoked Fish, Inc., after an inspection found the fish was produced without the controls needed to prevent botulism. The agency recommended a recall. The company declined — so the FDA issued a public warning instead. Here is what the warning covers, where the fish was sold, and what to do if you have it.
What we know
- The FDA posted an advisory on October 23, 2026, covering ALL lots of cold smoked sprats sold by D&M Smoked Fish, Inc., doing business as Haifa Smoked Fish, Inc., of Jamaica, New York.
- An FDA inspection found the sprats were produced without the food safety controls required to prevent Clostridium botulinum growth and toxin formation.
- The FDA recommended the company recall all cold smoked sprats on the market. The firm declined, so the FDA issued its own public warning instead.
- The product was sold in bulk cardboard boxes, shipped refrigerated, and may have been sold at restaurants and grocery store seafood counters with or without a label. It can be kept frozen for up to one year.
- The fish was sold to retailers, restaurants, wholesalers, and food service customers in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and the FDA says it may have reached additional states.
- No illnesses have been linked to the product in the FDA advisory or the secondary reporting reviewed.
What we don’t know
- The FDA advisory does not name a specific illness count, and no illnesses were reported in the coverage reviewed — this is a preventive warning based on the missing controls, not a confirmed outbreak.
- The advisory does not list individual stores or restaurants that sold the sprats, because much of it was sold unlabeled at counters.
- Whether the company will reconsider a recall, or whether the FDA will take further enforcement action, has not been announced.
Key facts
Product: All lots of cold smoked sprats sold by D&M Smoked Fish, Inc. (DBA Haifa Smoked Fish, Inc.)
Hazard: Potential Clostridium botulinum contamination — produced without required botulism controls
Action: FDA advisory (October 23, 2026) — NOT a recall; the company declined the FDA’s recall recommendation
Packaging: Bulk cardboard boxes, shipped refrigerated; may be frozen up to one year
Label clue: Shipping boxes read “Haifa Smoked Fish, 94-15 150 St., Jamaica, N.Y. 11435”; product label “C/Smoked Holland Sprats” (pictured lot #261, but ALL lots are covered)
Where sold: Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania — possibly additional states
Sold through: Retailers, restaurants, wholesalers, food service customers; seafood counters, with or without a label
FDA advice: Do not eat, sell, or serve; if unsure of the source, throw it away; clean and sanitize surfaces it touched
A warning instead of a recall
Most food-safety stories end with a recall. This one did not — and that is the point the FDA wants consumers to understand. After inspecting the Jamaica, New York, facility, the agency found that cold smoked sprats were being produced without the controls required to prevent Clostridium botulinum from growing and forming toxin. The FDA recommended that D&M Smoked Fish recall all cold smoked sprats currently on the market. The company declined. The FDA then issued a public advisory of its own, telling everyone in the supply chain — consumers, retailers, wholesalers, restaurants, and food service customers — not to eat, sell, or serve the product.
That distinction matters for shoppers. A recall usually comes with a product code, a date range, and a return process. This warning has none of those, because it covers all lots, and because much of the fish was sold in bulk and served or displayed without a consumer label. If you bought smoked sprats at a seafood counter or ate them at a restaurant in the affected states, you may have no package to check. The FDA’s advice in that case is blunt: if you cannot tell whether your sprats came from Haifa Smoked Fish, do not eat them — throw them away.
Where the fish was sold, and how to spot it
The advisory covers distribution to retailers, restaurants, wholesalers, and food service customers in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, with the FDA noting the product may have been distributed further and reached additional states. Because the sprats were shipped in bulk cardboard boxes and could be sold at seafood counters with or without a label, the usual “check the package” advice only goes so far.
The FDA’s advisory includes photographs of the shipping boxes, which read “Haifa Smoked Fish, 94-15 150 St., Jamaica, N.Y. 11435,” with a product label reading “C/Smoked Holland Sprats.” The pictured boxes show lot #261 — but the warning explicitly covers all lots, so a different lot number does not mean a different product is safe. Consumers who are unsure whether they purchased sprats from this company should throw the product away or contact their place of purchase. Businesses that received the product should not sell or serve it, and should clean and sanitize any surfaces or containers it touched, following the FDA’s safe food handling and cleaning guidance to reduce the risk of cross-contamination.
One more practical point: the product may have been kept frozen for up to one year. That long freezer life is why the warning matters now even for fish bought weeks or months ago — check the freezer, not just the fridge.
Why cold smoked fish needs special controls
Cold smoking is not cooking. Unlike hot smoking, which heats fish to temperatures that kill bacteria, cold smoking flavors and preserves fish at low temperatures, leaving the product essentially raw. Safety therefore depends entirely on a chain of preventive controls: the right salt concentration, curing ingredients, strict refrigeration, and a validated shelf life. If any link in that chain is missing, Clostridium botulinum — a bacterium whose spores survive in low-oxygen environments like vacuum-packed or bulk-packed fish — can grow and produce toxin.
That is why the FDA’s finding is framed as a missing-controls problem rather than a single bad batch. The advisory covers all lots, not one production date, because without the required controls there is no basis to say any lot is safe. It is also why the agency’s advice is so broad: the product moved through wholesalers, restaurants, and seafood counters, often without a consumer-facing label, so the warning has to reach everyone who might have handled or eaten it, not just people holding a specific package.
For businesses, the practical lesson is record-keeping. A restaurant or counter that cannot trace its smoked sprats back to a supplier cannot clear them, and the FDA’s instruction in that case is the same as for consumers: do not serve it. Suppliers and distributors holding Haifa Smoked Fish sprats should quarantine remaining stock and contact the FDA or their supplier rather than returning it to sale.
What botulism is, and when to seek help
Botulism is a rare but serious illness caused by a toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria. Food contaminated with the bacteria’s spores does not look, smell, or taste bad, so there is no way to judge safety by appearance. In foodborne botulism, symptoms generally begin 18 to 36 hours after eating contaminated food, though they can begin as soon as 6 hours after eating or as late as 10 days later.
The FDA lists the symptoms to watch for: nausea, vomiting, fatigue or weakness, blurred or double vision, difficulty speaking or a change in voice, difficulty swallowing, descending paralysis starting with the face, respiratory distress, dry mouth, and constipation. In severe cases, people will die without intensive care. Anyone who has eaten the product and develops these symptoms should seek immediate medical attention. This article is not medical advice — it summarizes the FDA’s published guidance, and the FDA and a clinician are the right sources for individual concerns.
It is worth stating plainly what this warning is not: it is not a confirmed outbreak. The FDA advisory and the reporting reviewed do not link any illnesses to these sprats. The warning exists because the required preventive controls were missing — the agency is acting on the risk the missing controls create, before anyone is reported sick.
What happens next
- Consumers: Check freezers and fridges for unlabeled or Haifa-labeled cold smoked sprats; when in doubt, throw them away and clean the surfaces they touched.
- Retailers and restaurants: Stop selling or serving the product, and contact suppliers about any remaining stock.
- The company: No recall has been announced; whether D&M Smoked Fish reconsiders, or the FDA takes further enforcement steps, is not yet known.
- Regulators: The FDA advisory remains the authoritative source; it will be updated if the situation changes.
This article will be updated if the FDA issues a recall, an enforcement update, or new distribution information.
Primary source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “FDA Advises Not to Eat, Sell, or Serve Cold Smoked Sprats Sold by Haifa Smoked Fish, Inc.” (advisory posted October 23, 2026).
Secondary reporting: Food Safety News, “FDA issues warning about cold smoked fish because of botulism risk; company refuses to recall product” (October 23, 2026); Food Poison Journal coverage of the advisory (October 24, 2026).
Related coverage: Virginia oyster recall, Kayem hot dog recall, and Walmart fruit cocktail recall.
By DailyTrend USA Newsroom.
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