Objective The aim of the proposed research work is to study the effect of commercial handling practice and possible new handling procedures after harvesting on the incidence of parasites in the edible part of the fish. The possible migration of parasites within the fish (from viscera to fillet and vice versa) after catch will be examined. The effect of processing (salting, marinating, use of preservatives, cold smoking) on survival of parasites in situ in the fish fillet will be examined for selected fish species. It is the ultimate aim of this work to provide guidelines for establishing a code of practice for handling and processing of fish and thereby reduce waste and at the same time guarantee the safety of the consumer. Research has been carried out to identify proper fish handling and processing procedures so the safety of the consumer can be guaranteed. The studies on the effect of fish handling was carried out on board commercial fishing vessels, while the effect of processing was carried out in close contact with the fish processing industry. No migration of parasites from viscera to fillet was detected in fish irrespective of the fish handling procedures. It was confirmed that parasitised fresh herring and mackerel harbours about 2.4 - 4.0% and 5% respectively of the parasites in the flesh already at the time of capture. It is therefore inevitable that foodfish infected with live nematodes will enter into the market. Our studies have confirmed that freezing to -20 C for 24 h (normal safety precaution) as well as heating to 55 C for 1 minute will kill all nematodes. This means that hot smoking is a safe processing technique but household cooking in some cases may be on the borderline of safe preparation. The mortality of nematodes in marinated herring is a function of salt and acetic acid concentration in the fillet and of time. If the salt concentration is increased the holding time can be reduced. Using traditional German marinating procedures (8.0 - 8.4% NaCl, 4% acetic acid in the fish) or traditional Danish processing (7.2 - 7.4% NaCl and 2.0 - 2.2% acetic acid in the fish), the nematodes survived for up to 5 weeks and 6 weeks respectively. Thus it appears that the holding time specified in the German Fisch Verordning is too short. Sorbate did not significantly affect the parasites.In phase 1 of the project, the effect of normal commercial catch handling will be examined. The basic method or reference method to be used in all work is the digestion method. However, this method, which is expected to give 100 % recovery of parasites, will be compared with other methods such as candling. In phase 2, the effect of processing on the survival of parasites will be examined. In phase 3, the results will be presented for publication in scientific journals and a code of practice for general handling procedures and for production of specific products will be formulated. Fields of science agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesfisheriesmedical and health scienceshealth sciencespublic healthsocial sciencessociologydemographymortalitynatural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryorganic acidsnatural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyichthyology Programme(s) FP2-FAR - Community research and coordination programmes (EEC) in the fisheries sector, 1988-1992 Topic(s) Data not available Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme Data not available Coordinator Danmarks Tekniske Hoeskole EU contribution No data Address Bygn. 221 2800 Lyngby Denmark See on map Total cost No data Participants (2) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Bundesforschungsanstalt für Fischerei Germany EU contribution No data Address Palmaille 9 22767 Hamburg See on map Total cost No data TNO IVP-AFDEL INST VOOR VISSERIJ PRODUCTEN Netherlands EU contribution No data Address Ijmuiden See on map Total cost No data
