Ahumados Domínguez has adjusted its production processes to the new Regulation (EU) 2024/2895, focused on the control of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods, and continues to produce its references without adding preservatives that modify the flavor, texture, or quality, as detailed by the company in a statement.
The historic firm specialized in products such as smoked salmon, with more than 65 years of experience in the market, has intensified its controls, internal procedures, and storage conditions with the aim of ensuring maximum freshness and food safety.
The European regulation, in force since July 1, introduces stricter requirements to minimize the presence of Listeria monocytogenes throughout the shelf life of these foods. In addition, it requires companies to scientifically demonstrate the microbiological behavior of their products throughout that period.
In light of this new regulatory framework, Domínguez could choose between two paths to ensure compliance: incorporate preservatives into its products or keep its recipes intact and shorten the shelf life from 30 to 24 days. The Madrid-based company has decided not to use preservatives and reduce the consumption period of its smoked products, assuming the logistical complexity that this change entails.
For more than six decades, Ahumados Domínguez has been producing its smoked salmon following its own recipe and processes in which the selection of raw materials, the salting phase, drying, pressing, and smoking are key to achieving its distinctive flavor, texture, and freshness.
For this reason, the company ruled out from the beginning introducing preservatives – such as buffered vinegar – that could alter those organoleptic properties.
"We could have chosen to add preservatives to our smoked products, a much less complex alternative from an operational point of view, but we never considered modifying the recipe of our products. We prefer to take on this challenge that is fully aligned with our principles: to defend the highest quality, always," explained the CEO of Ahumados Domínguez, Pedro Mestanza.
This choice responds to the intention to maintain the authenticity of the product intact and to reinforce a way of working in which freshness is conceived as a differential value of the brand and not as a limitation.
In parallel to the reduction of shelf life, Ahumados Domínguez has undertaken investments and has implemented additional measures to strengthen microbiological control and anticipate new European obligations.
Among the main actions is the adjustment of the conservation temperature, which is set to be between 0 and 4 ºC, the increase of both internal and external analytical controls, a more rigorous supervision of physicochemical parameters, and the use of mathematical models of predictive microbiology as a support tool.
Ahumados Domínguez has reorganized and optimized its processes to minimize the impact of these changes on both its professional clients and the end consumer, preserving maximum freshness and ensuring an adequate shelf life at the time of purchase and receipt of orders. "We will comply with the regulations while maintaining our commitment to our clients. The essence of this company is and will be absolutely unchangeable and non-negotiable," Mestanza has stated.