QUALITY CONTROL MEASURES: FROM HARVEST THROUGH POINT OF

SALE

Dr. Kenneth J. La ValleyNH Sea Grant

WHY DO FOODS SPOIL?THE BASICS

And how can you prevent it?

What causes food spoilage?

1. Microorganisms– Include bacteria

2. Enzymes– Molecules that speed up or slow down

chemicals reactions

3. Chemicals– Harmful chemicals may result from the activity

of microorganisms or enzymes (i.e. botulism)

So How Do Fish Spoil?

• There are two processes that cause whole fish to decompose: 1. The escape of digestive enzymes from the belly cavity, and 2. The growth of bacteria.

• The bacteria that live in the fish’s intestines, gills, and surface slime release enzymes that begin the decomposition process.

• The rate of this decomposition is determined by the type and number of bacteria initially found on the fish, and the temperature of the fish.

• Marine fish tend to decompose more quickly than freshwater fish because their osmoregulation system provides an ideal food source for bacteria.

So How does fish spoil?

• Meanwhile, the enzymes excreted by the fish’s digestive system eventually break down the walls of the belly cavity and cause the fish to decompose even at temperatures well below freezing, and even if the fish has no bacteria at all. • Once the tissue is broken down by the enzymes,

however, it is consumed by bacteria, and this accelerates bacterial growth.

Temperature• Very high or very low

temperature can kill or suppress the growth of microorganisms.

• Chemical reactions are usually suppressed by low temperature

• High temperatures denature proteins (enzymes)

What are the Critical Factors?

Acidity (pH)• Acidity has to do with the

chemical properties of a solution

• Microorganisms prefer a neutral pH (around 7)

• Anything that has a pH that is too low or too high will inhibit the growth of organisms and suppress chemical reactions.

What are the Critical Factors?

Water • Water is needed for

chemical reactions to occur in organisms

• If no water is present, it inhibits the growth of molds and microorganisms

What are the Critical Factors?

Fish Quality Control and Handling

So why should you care?

What do buyers look for and consumers told?• Smell the fish. A fishy smell is not good as it signals the

fish is getting spoiled.• Look at the scales and gills. If you're buying the entire

fish, such as trout or salmon, the gills should be a bright color and the scales shiny. Dark gills and dull scales signal "old."

So why should you care?What do buyers look for and consumers told?• If the flesh springs back quickly, it's fresh. If

your fingerprint stays, move on. Fresh fish should have a bright, firm appearance and should appear moist, not dry or dull.

• Buy from a store (or fishermen) you trust.

So why should you care?What do buyers look for and consumers told?• Avoid buying fillets or steaks that are mottled

or spotted. These are probably bruised flesh. Look for those that have a uniform color and fresh appearance.

So what can you control?

• Temperature and handling practices are the most important factors in determining the shelf life of all species of fish.

• Temperature will control the rate of bacterial spoilage and enzyme breakdown.

• It’s an undisputed fact “the warmer the temperature the faster spoilage will occur”

So what can you do? Strategies

• Between the time a fish is landed to the deck, and when it is offloaded, there are some considerations and potential steps that each fisherman can take, to improve fish quality.

• Each fisherman will have to balance the costs vs. the benefits in judging which steps to take.

So what can we do? Landing and Sorting

• After fish are caught the action of bacteria, biochemical changes and chemical actions will tend toward quality deterioration, generally caused through physical damage and temperature damage.

• This process cannot be stopped but it can be slowed, by controlling temperatures, handling fish carefully, and preventing contamination.

Landing and sorting

• Keep the deck as wet and cool as possible, especially in hot weather.

• Sort your catch quickly, concentrating on smaller fish (which will heat up faster) and higher value species. – Shorter tows or fewer nets per string in high density areas can

speed the sorting process.

• limit physical damage such as gaffing or throwing – damage will make it easier for bacteria to penetrate the

flesh and reduce fillet quality.

Landing and sorting– Avoid using a fish pick if at all possible! Picks provide an

immediate entry for bacteria hastening decay. – A wise choice in gloves will do the job just as well, and

prevent damage to kept or discarded fish.• Fish should be gutted and gilled quickly. – Gutting removes a source of bacteria and enzymes, and

improves chilling by removing a significant amount of warm body weight.

• Use clean gloves or thoroughly cleaned hands and a sanitized fillet knife – a bucket with a bleach sanitizing solution in it is a handy

way of keeping bacteria down.

So what can you do? Washing and Chilling

• Washing is a fairly universal practice for fishermen, but following it with even a small step to keep chilling the fish down can have strong benefit to fish quality.

• These activities take the initial heat out of the fish and remove bacteria.

• When taking these steps, quality risks include over-crowding washing bins and brine tanks, contamination of wash or brine water, and handling damage.

• The more the fish are handled the greater the opportunity for physical damage to occur, so take care when transferring fish.

Washing and Chilling

• Hose the fish down on the deck prior to sorting• Use a small dip tank to wash the catch down when

it’s in baskets ready for the hold• If using a chill tank, or bin (such as an insulated

transport tank) fill with a slurry of ice and fresh seawater at a 2:1 ratio

• The best temperature for a wash bin or brine tank is 32 to 38oF

• When noticeably discolored, the wash or brine water should be replaced with clean seawater, and ice

So what can you do? Refrigerated storage

• In many situations refrigerated storage may be no more than storing totes of iced fish below deck.

• No matter what the vessels capacity several simple steps will help to improve over-all quality.

• Keep in mind that potential risks at this stage of processing include physical damage to fish, temperature, and contamination while icing and crating fish.

• As with each prior step of the process handle fish with care.

Refrigerated Storage• Use a FDA approved sanitizing

agent to clean totes and gloves before handling.

• The proper dilution ratio when making a bleach sanitizing solution is 1/2 ounce of bleach per 1 gallon of water. – Chlorine bleach is highly effective

on a wide variety of bacteria and is not affected by water salts and is generally inexpensive.

– Sanitizing agents that contain iodine compounds are also effective but may discolor vessel and equipment.

Packing the tote• Fish should be packed neatly with belly

down on the bottom layer and belly up thereafter.

• When possible the ice should completely cover the fish at each level.

• Fish that are severely damaged (scale loss, bruising etc.) should be rejected or stored separately with like quality fish.

Packing the tote• Fish that are still bent in rigor mortis should not be

straightened out. – Straightening will lead to a separation of the muscle

bands in the flesh which will reduce the quality of the fillet.

• All totes should be equipped with drainage holes, especially if stacked.

• Iced fish are best held at an air temperature of 32 to 40oF where ice is able to melt and the resulting melt water can percolate through the stacked crates to wash and keep fish moist. – While in storage fish core temperature should be kept

around 34oF.

Lobster Quality Control and Handling

Lobster Quality Control: What Do We Mean By 'Quality?'

- High Survivability in Storage or Transport (Low Shrink)- High Meat Yield- Good "Shippability"- Good Taste and Texture

These Are Combinations Of: Shell Hardness, Physical Injury, Loss of Claws or Legs, Stress Level, Molt Cycle, Nutrition, etc….

Best prices usually come from a lobster with:a good hard shell, high survival (low expected shrink), high meat yield, and maximum shippability

General Quality of Lobster by Molt Stage

Quality on the Boat: Rule #1 - Handle With Care!

• Quality can only be maintained, or lost – not improved. • Every time you handle a lobster, it adds to stress, adds expense, decreases condition, and reduces overall value.

Quality on the Boat:Rule #2 – Don't Waste Money!

• Injured lobsters on the boat keep your prices down• Breaks in the shell or in the membranes weaken or kill lobsters• Released, injured lobsters = more disease and predation and slower growth.

Quality on the Boat: Rule #3 - Don't Stress 'Em Out!

- Even softshell lobsters can survive with good handing

- Technology can help in shipping softer lobster.

- Lobsters are tough, but react negatively to stress.

- In deep water sets, may go through a 14 atmosphere change in one minute!

- Lactic acid buildup, can take over 24 hours for a lobster to reach background levels.

Quality on the Boat – Where Do Injury and Stress Occur?

From Boat to Truck:

- Hauling: rapid temperature and pressure changes

- At surface and the rail: physical damage

- Emptying the trap: claw loss, puncture, squeezing

- Banding table: temperature, drying, squeezing, puncture, crushing

- Banding lobsters and placing lobsters in the tank: puncture, squeezing

Quality on the Boat – Where Do Injury and Stress Occur?

- Live tank: oxygen, salinity, temperature, physical injury

- Emptying live tank: squeezing, puncture, temperature

- Storing lobsters:temperature, oxygen, salinity, petroleum, puncture

- Loading crates to the truck: temperature, humidity, physical injury

Quality on the Boat – Trap Set-up, and At The Rail

- Haul as slowly as practical

- Bring the trap over the rail smoothly, don't bang it around

- Rail should have space between the bottom of the trap and the gunwale.

Quality on the Boat – Trap Set-up, and At The Rail

- Rope around the trap base gets the trap off gunwale and rails,protects legs and claws

- Small mesh trap floor can keep claws and walking legs inside

Quality On the Boat – Clearing the Trap

Be careful, and handle lobsters like eggs!

Avoid squeezing!

Gently place lobsters on the banding table, in separate slots/troughs where possible.

A soft base on the banding table (seaweed, cloth, rubber) helps to prevent banging.

Captains should keep an ear out for lobsters hitting the banding table loudly, or being tossed into crates or the tank

From the Atlantic Veterinary College, Lobster Science Center:

"Generally, tossing lobstersmade them 3 times morelikely to arrive weak atprocessing plants thanlobsters which were gentlytransferred from traps totemporary storage units onboard fishing boats."

Quality On the Boat – On the banding table

- Get your lobsters back into water as quickly as possible!

- Keep 'em separated: Easier handling, fewer crushed/dropped claws.

- Band carefully: against your body or the table to immobilize the claws, keep the lobster right side up, to minimize dropped claws.

Quality On the Boat – Live Tanks

- Place, don't toss, the lobster into the storage tank.

- Get your setup so that you don't throw a lobster into the water.

- A lobster in a tank is better than a lobster in a crate. Lobsters stored in crates will lose about 2-5% of their weight in drip loss in an hour.

- If using crates, keep shaded with a good supply of water on them.

Quality On the Boat – Live Tanks

- Tanks should have good water flow. If you have an undersized pump, replace it with a bigger one.

- If you suspect 'dead spots' in your tanks, use a manifold on the bottom of the tank to distribute water and air.

- When fresh water is present on the surface, maybe stop pumping water into the tank for a time. If you do this, aeration is critical.

- The deeper your water pump inlet can be, the better, to get down to cooler, saltier water.

Quality On the Boat – Live Tanks

- Trays or boxes inside the live tank keeps lobsters from getting crushed, improves water flow

- Aeration can be plumbed right into the tank inlet, or airstones at the bottom of the tank.

- Worthwhile to install a chilling system?

Quality on the Boat – From the Tank to the Crate:

- Often a very busy time, people rush, product can get damaged.

- Don't toss your lobster; place them in the crate

- One hand, one lobster

- All in one direction? Keep spines aligned to minimize damage. Not much extra work – get into a rhythm.

On to the truck:

- The truck crew should handle the crates as carefully as you do.

- Crates lifted horizontally; NOT by one handle

- Set down gently, don't drop.

- Talk to you trucker and buyer:rough handling, or questions

- Trucks should use BOTH ice and refrigeration.

HACCP: A brief Introduction

43

Onboard HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) Program• HACCP is a preventative approach to

food safety• HACCP focuses on operational steps

from receiving (harvesting) to serving (point of sale)

44

What can you do with HACCP?

• Standardize how we harvest, handle and process the fish we catch (i.e. Quality Control)

• Improve shelf-life and product quality• Improve product safety and confidence by

consumers and seafood buyers• May receive higher prices and access to new

markets

45

HACCP- Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Points systemSix Principles• Identify hazards• Identify critical control points• Establish critical limits• Establish monitoring procedures• Establish verification procedures• Establish record keeping procedures

46

What are HAZARDS?

• Biological- bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi and mold

• Chemical- sanitizing agents, cleaning supplies, engine oil, hydraulic fluids, gasoline

• Physical- dirt, glass, metal, cardboard

47

Critical Control PointsCritical Limits• CCPs-Placed in the flow of food (fish) where

practices can be applied that would eliminate, prevent or minimize hazards and control quality standards– What are some CCPs for your vessel operation?

• Critical limits- ex. time and temperatures that must be maintained or achieved

48

Monitoring ProceduresCorrective Actions• Monitoring includes actions that should be taken at

the critical control points– Record keeping!

• Corrective actions are preplanned steps to be taken if a problem occurs

49

VerificationRecordkeeping • Verification-process of confirming the food safety

plan is working. Provides needed info to update plans, when needed

• Recordkeeping- demonstrates the food safety plan has been implemented. Creates records necessary for audits and inspections

| RECEIVING

Northern Shrimp(Pandalus sp.)

|

Whole in 90lb totes from licensed commercial fishermen.

| FRESH SHRIMP STORAGE

| In refrigerated cooler at or below 40°F or less in plastic

totes.

| PRE-PROCESSING

| Soaked in Exactic bins in refrigerated potable water for

12 – 14 hours in the refrigerated cooler.

| |

PROCESSING| |

In processing room (air temperature < 50°F) shrimp are placed on stainless steel table. Heads are removed and tails are placed in bushel baskets.

| EGG WASHING

|

40 – 50lbs of shrimp tails are placed in stainless steel egg washer using flow-through potable water for 1-2 minutes. Shrimp are removed from washer and collected in bushel baskets.

| RINSE/DRAIN

|

Shrimp tails are rinsed and allowed to drain on a stainless steel rack.

| PACKAGING

|

Shrimp tails are packaged in 10lb units using food grade plastic bags, labeled, packed into styro’s and iced.

| STORAGE

| In refrigerated cooler at or below 40°F and isolated from other raw or processed products.

| SHIPPING

| Product is shipped in packed, labeled styro’s using commercial service.

Step 1Flow Diagram

Step 2 Flow Diagram(1)

Processing step (2)

Identify potential hazards, controlled or enhanced at the

step (1)

(3) Are any potential

food safety hazards significant? (Y/N)

(4) Justify your

decisions for column 3.

(5) What preventive measures can be

applied to prevent the significant

hazards?

(6) Is this step a critical control point? (Y/N)

Receiving Northern Shrimp

BIOLOGICAL pathogen s

no

Shrimp are received directly from licensed fishermen and iced.

NO

CHEMICAL none

no

PHYSICAL none

no

Fresh Shrimp Storage

BIOLOGICAL pathogens

Yes Temperature abuse may occur resulting in pathogen growth.

YES

CHEMICAL none no

PHYSICAL none no

Pre-processing

CHEMICAL none

no

Potable water and refrigerated temperatures are used.

YES

PHYSICAL none

no

BIOLOGICAL pathogen growth

Yes

Temperature abuse may occur resulting in pathogen growth.

Step 2 Flow Diagram

Egg Washing

CHEMICAL none

no

Potable water is used.

NO PHYSICAL

none no

Stainless steel and food grade materials used throughout egg washing process.

BIOLOGICAL pathogen growth

no

Cool temperatures and insufficient time for pathogen growth.

Rinse/Drain

CHEMICAL none

no

Fish rinsed in potable fresh water to remove debris.

NO

PHYSICAL none

no

Food grade materials are used.

BIOLOGICAL pathogen introduction/growth during rinse/drain

no

Fish rinsed in potable fresh water, insufficient time for pathogen growth.

Packaging

CHEMICAL none

no Food grade packaging used.

NOPHYSICAL

none no

BIOLOGICAL pathogen growth during packaging.

no

Shrimp are packed with ice in food grade packaging.

Storage

CHEMICAL none

no

YES PHYSICAL

none no

BIOLOGICAL none

Yes Temperature abuse may occur.

Step 3 HACCP Plan(1)

Critical Control Point

(CCP)

(2) Significant Hazards(s)

(3) Critical Limits for each Preventive

Measure

Monitoring (8) Corrective Actions

(9) Records

(10) Verification (4)

What (5)

How (6)

Frequency (7)

Who

Fresh Shrimp Storage

pathogen growth during storage

Upon receiving shrimp are held in refrigerated cooler at or below 40F.

Cooler Temp.

Chart recorder

Processed batch (lot)

Responsible staff

Place product in refrigerator cooler and ice to bring temp. below 40F.

Production log and recorder charts

daily record review

Pre-processing

Pathogen growth during pre-processing

Potable water used for soaking. Soaking occurs in refrigerated cooler at or below 40F.

Cooler Temp.

chart recorder

Each process batch

Responsible staff

Place product in refrigerator cooler and ice to bring temp. below 40F.

production log and recorder charts

daily record review

Final product Storage

pathogen growth in final product

Shrimp are packaged on ice and stored in refrigerated cooler until shipping at or below 40F.

Cooler Temp.

chart recorder

Each process batch

Responsible staff

Place product in refrigerator cooler and ice to bring temp. below 40F.

production log and recorder charts

daily record review

Innovative Technologies

Sterilizing agents• OzonePackaging• CO2 Pads

What is Ozone?

• Colorless gas (O3)• Dissolves in water• Produced by electric discharge in water or

through ultraviolet radiation• Disrupts cell membranes “oxidation”

Ozone Wash-down

• Water is pumped through an Ozone wash-down system and mixed with Ozone.

• Ozonated water is then sprayed as a disinfectant directly onto– cleaning surfaces– Product (whole fish or fillet)

• Ozone destroys pathogens and bacteria which cause spoilage, giving greater shelf life, saving money, and reducing liability by destroying deadly bacteria. – Oxidizes pathogens– Reduces product “shrinkage”– Removes odors associated with seafood– Extends shelf-life up to 14 days– Approved for use on organically labeled foods

DECOMPOSITION OF WHOLE FISH IN SEAFOOD CABINETS

• Visible spectrum and UV radiation from most fish display case lighting heats the surface of the fish, dehydrating it and accelerating the growth of surface bacteria and the decomposition of the fish.

• Ozonated sprayers candelay this process.