Fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthful diet because they contain high-quality protein and other essential nutrients. In fact, a well-balanced diet that includes a variety of fish and shellfish can contribute to heart health and aid in children’s proper growth and development.
As with any food, it’s important to handle seafood safely to avoid foodborne illness, sometimes called food poisoning. In other to do so, follow these safe handling tips for buying, preparing, and storing fish and shellfish – and you and your family can safely enjoy the fine taste and good nutrition of seafood.
Safety Tips When Shopping for Seafood
Buying Fresh Fish and Shrimp
- Only buy fish that is refrigerated or displayed on a thick bed of fresh ice (preferably in a case or under some type of cover).
- The color of a fish can be affected by several factors including diet, environment, and treatment with a color fixative such as carbon monoxide or other packaging processes, so color alone is not an indicator of freshness.
- Fish should smell fresh and mild, not fishy, sour, or ammonia-like.
- A fish’s eyes should be clear and shiny.
- Whole fish should have firm flesh and red gills with no odor. Fresh fillets should have firm flesh and red bloodlines, or red flesh if fresh tuna. The flesh should spring back when pressed.
- Fish fillets should display no discoloration, darkening, or drying around the edges.
- Shrimp, scallop, and lobster flesh should be clear with a pearl-like color and little or no odor.
- Fresh fish and fish fillets sold as “Previously Frozen” may not have all the characteristics of fresh fish (e.g., bright eyes, firm flesh, red gills, flesh, or bloodlines). However, they should still smell fresh and mild, not fishy, sour, or rancid.
. Selecting Shellfish
- Look for the label: Look for tags on sacks or containers of live shellfish (in the shell) and labels on containers or packages of shucked shellfish. These tags and labels contain specific information about the product, including the processor’s certification number. This means that the shellfish were harvested and processed in accordance with national shellfish safety controls.
- Discard Cracked/Broken Ones: Throw away clams, oysters, and mussels if their shells are cracked or broken.
- Do a “Tap Test”: Live clams, oysters, and mussels will close when the shell is tapped. If they don’t close when tapped, do not select them.
- Check for Leg Movement: Live crabs and lobsters should show some leg movement. They spoil rapidly after death, so only live crabs and lobsters should be selected and prepared.
Purchasing Frozen Seafood
- Frozen seafood can spoil if the fish thaws during transport and is left at warm temperatures for too long before cooking.
- Don’t buy frozen seafood if its package is open, torn, or crushed on the edges.
- Avoid packages with signs of frost or ice crystals, which may mean the fish has been stored a long time or thawed and refrozen.
- Avoid packages where the “frozen” fish flesh is not hard. The fish should not be bendable.
How to Store Seafood Properly
Keep Fish and Shellfish Cold
- Put seafood on ice or in the refrigerator or freezer within two hours after buying it (one hour if it is exposed to a temperature of 90˚F or more, such as in a car parked in the sun). If seafood will be used within 2 days after purchase, store it in a clean refrigerator at a temperature of 40°F or below. Use a refrigerator thermometer to check!
- Otherwise, wrap it tightly in plastic, foil, or moisture-proof paper and store it in the freezer.
Steps to Safely Prepare Seafood
Thawing
- Thaw frozen seafood gradually by placing it in the refrigerator overnight.
- If you have to thaw seafood quickly, either seal it in a plastic bag and immerse it in cold water (changing the water every 30 minutes), or — if the food will be cooked immediately thereafter — microwave it on the “defrost” setting and stop the defrost cycle while the fish is still icy but flexible.
Cooking
Most seafood should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145°F. If you don’t have a food thermometer, there are other ways to determine whether seafood is done.
Fish: The flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork
Shrimp, Scallops, Crab, and Lobster: The flesh becomes firm and clear
Clams, Mussels, and Oysters: The shells open during cooking — throw out ones that don’t open
Uncooked spoiled seafood can have sour, rancid, fishy, or ammonia odors. These odors become stronger after cooking. If you smell sour, rancid, or fishy odors in raw or cooked seafood, do not eat it. If you smell either a fleeting or persistent ammonia odor in cooked seafood, do not eat it.
Serving
Follow these serving guidelines once your seafood is cooked and ready to be enjoyed.
- Never leave seafood or other perishable food out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours or for more than 1 hour if exposed to temperatures above 90°F. Bacteria that can cause illness to grow quickly at temperatures between 40°F and 140°F.
- For party planning, keep hot seafood hot and cold seafood cold:
- Keep cold chilled seafood refrigerated until time to serve.
- Serve cold seafood on ice if it is going to stay out longer than 2 hours.
- Keep hot seafood heated until time to serve or divide the seafood into smaller containers and keep them in a refrigerator until time to reheat and serve.
- Serve hot seafood under a heat source (e.g., hot lamp, crock pot, hot plate, etc.) if it is going to stay out longer than 2 hours or discard the seafood after 2 hours.
What you need to know about eating raw seafood.
It’s always best to cook seafood thoroughly to minimize the risk of foodborne illness. However, if you choose to eat raw fish anyway, one rule of thumb is to eat fish that has been previously frozen. Some species of fish can contain parasites and freezing will kill any parasites that may be present. However, be aware that freezing doesn’t kill all harmful germs. That’s why the safest route is to cook your seafood.
Our company (Rcl safety centre) is an indigenous company dedicated to health, safety, and environment training and services.
We will be having our NATIONAL FOOD SAFETY SUMMIT on the 28th of July 2022 in Abuja and on the 28th of August 2022 in Lagos.
WHAT DO YOU LEARN FROM A FOOD SAFETY SEMINAR/SUMMIT?
The summit will bring together everyone who operates in the food/hospitality industry. Attendees will learn the roles of monitoring in the food business by the regulatory agency; NISCN, NAFDAC, SON, Ministry of Health and the importance of such monitoring, the use of technology in training food vendors and those in the hospitality business, reasons for compliance to statutory regulations in the food industry and simple remedies for food poisoning in public spaces.
SUMMIT/Exhibition Date: 28th July 2022.(Abuja), 28th August 2022(Lagos)
Opening Hours: 9:00am – 4:00pm
SUMMIT Materials: All Summit presentations will be available for download on the foodsafety.org.ng portal.
Exhibitors: Host companies and NISCN Member companies.
Visitors: 5000 expected professionals from all parts of the country.
Admission: Professional visitors, Admission is free upon registration.
Website: www.foodsafety.org.ng
Tele: 08099600070, 08099700070, or 09057666623.