The Crucial Need for Effective Fish Preservation Technology
The world’s lakes, rivers, seas, and oceans have long been a vital food source for humans. Hooks carved from snail shells found in a cave near Beijing suggest that primitive people were fishing for food 40 000 years ago. The Bible relates that the apostles Peter, Andrew, John, and James were fishermen, while the Romans had already established a commercial fishing industry. Even then, salting and smoking had become established fish preservation techniques and were essential to ensure the catch would remain edible for longer.
However, those early fishing fleets would have sold their catch in their home ports for immediate consumption. Salted or smoked fish would have been mainly for the benefit of travellers. Today, most seafood is destined for factories, retailers, and restaurants, hundreds or even thousands of kilometres from the quayside where they first made landfall. While the salted cod, known as Bacalhau, and smoked herrings, better known as kippers, have their appeal, other forms of fish preservation are just as effective and do not alter the taste or appearance of seafood.
Furthermore, modern trawlers and factory ships remain at sea for prolonged periods and have vastly greater capacity than their ancient predecessors. Taking every precaution to ensure their catch will stay in peak condition when it finally arrives at the consumers’ tables is, therefore, more crucial than ever. Blatantly rotten seafood is easy to spot by its smell alone and has value only as fertiliser. However, such extreme decay is seldom a problem. More often, the objective of fish preservation technology is to prevent more subtle changes that, nevertheless, tend to stop most consumers from buying.
Public fish markets and fishmongers are now far less common than they were in our grandparents’ times. Today, we find our cod fillets and tuna steaks in supermarket freezers, wrapped and perhaps pre-battered or breaded, ready for cooking. Even prawns come ready-shelled and arranged in patterns, protected by plastic containers. We cannot smell them or feel them, so the best measure of freshness we have is their appearance. In practice, fish preservation must focus as much on visual impact as on ensuring the absence of harmful bacteria.
All marine creatures carry superficial bacteria and, once free of saltwater, some may cause food spoilage while others could cause food poisoning. Thus, the use of disinfecting agents is a crucial part of preserving seafood. Formaldehyde was once a common choice, but its toxicity and taste have seen its use largely discontinued and banned in some countries. In practice, citric acid from lemons is equally effective and far safer. Modern fish preservation now relies heavily on additives composed of safe, naturally occurring active ingredients and must comply with stringent national and international standards.
Some typical additives include products to prevent the formation of black spots on crustaceans that, although harmless, are unacceptable to consumers. Pallor in highly pigmented species like red roman and the sour taste of giant squid are equally unpopular with consumers but easy to prevent with the appropriate additives.
Tequisa is a name known throughout Southern Africa and worldwide as the leading developer of additives for fish preservation. Our products are manufactured in strict compliance with the quality control regulations mandated by the EU, FAO, WHO, and America’s FDA.
