Intra and inter-annual variability in the fat content of Atlantic herring as revealed by routine industry monitoring

To validate methods for the assessment of fish freshness and to discuss the freshness criteria for fish commercialized within the European Union. The project’s participants are working in subgroups studying sensory analysis, microbiology, volatile compounds, proteins, lipids, adenosine triphosphate and physical measurements with respect to fish freshness evaluation. In this article, the different subgroups have summarized changes that occur in fish and methods to evaluate fish freshness as a first step towards the definition of criteria for fish freshness.

The quality of fish and fishery products is a major concern in fish industry worldwide. Essentially, the objective of fish and fish product assessment is to avoid the ingestion of contaminated food; to evaluate the nutritive value of food by detecting the presence of biological, chemical and physical hazards and in the end to ensure the safety of the consumer. To assess the safety of fish and fish products both instrumental and sensory methods are used. Sensory methods are the most satisfactory way of assessing the spoilage and freshness of fish and fishery products.

Quality changes of whole, iced Gilthead sea bream were monitored by sensory evaluation, k1 value, GR Torrymeter, and bacterial counts. The methods were tested for their suitability to determine freshness quality and remaining storage life in ice.

This research is to evaluate fish freshness and degradation of fish by comparing chemicals used in gas chambers and various other methods such as the Fish Freshness Meter (Torrymeter)