Code of Practice for Fish and Fishery Products

Biotoxins and Contamination

• Biotoxins are poisonous substances found naturally in fish or produced by toxin-producing algae.
• Contamination refers to the presence of any harmful biological or chemical agent in fish or seafood products.

Cleaning and Water Quality

• Cleaning involves removing unwanted substances from fish products, enhancing safety and quality.
• Clean water is defined as free from harmful microorganisms and toxic plankton, ensuring fish safety for human consumption.

Food Safety Control Measures

• Control measures aim to prevent or reduce food safety hazards, important in fish processing.
• A Critical Control Point (CCP) is a step essential for controlling a food safety hazard.

Hazard Analysis and HACCP

• Hazard analysis helps in identifying significant food safety hazards for HACCP plan development.
• The HACCP system evaluates and controls food safety hazards in processing.

Storage and Preservation

• Shelf-life determines how long seafood remains safe and maintains quality during storage.
• Frozen fish must be kept at -18 °C (0 °F) or below to preserve quality.

Processing Techniques

• Cleaning fish involves heading and gutting, resulting in dressed fish ready for processing.
• Glazing adds a protective ice layer to frozen products to prevent dehydration and freezer burn.

Aquaculture Practices

• Aquaculture involves raising aquatic animals, excluding mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, for human consumption.
• Good aquaculture practices ensure safety and compliance with food regulations.

Quality Control and Defects

• Defect action points (DAP) focus on preventing or minimizing quality defects in seafood products.
• Validation ensures effectiveness of HACCP plans while verification checks compliance with them.

Seafood Processing Operations

• Filleting refers to slicing fish into irregular pieces, while shucking removes meat from shells.
• Minced fish is produced by separating flesh from skin and bones, often used in various products.

Additives and Treatments

• Feed additives are approved substances added to fish feed, not considered nutrients.
• Dry-salting is a technique for preserving fish by mixing with food-grade salt to drain excess moisture.

Bivalve Mollusks Handling

• Conditioning cleans live bivalves, improving consumer acceptability.
• Depuration reduces microorganisms in bivalves to safe levels for human consumption.

Fish Quality and Characteristics

• Fatty fish have higher body fat content (>2%) compared to lean fish (<2%).
• Gibbing is a technique used to clean fatty fish by removing gills and internal organs.

Packaging Innovations

• Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) alters the air surrounding fish to extend freshness.
• Quick freezing is crucial for preserving the inherent quality of fish and seafood.

Regulatory Standpoint

• An official agency oversees food hygiene and safety, ensuring compliance with regulations.
• Potable water standards are established by the World Health Organization to ensure safety for human consumption.### Salt and Fish Processing
• Salt is sourced from the sea, underground rock deposits, or refined brine.
• Salt-matured fish has specific characteristics in appearance, consistency, and flavor expected in the final product.
• Salted fish is treated through methods such as brining, injection, dry-salting, pickling, or a combination.
• The water phase of fish muscle can reach a saturation level of 26.4 g of salt per 100 g of water.
• Split fish refers to fish that is opened, with gills, guts, and roe or milt removed, potentially leaving parts of the backbone.
• Stacking involves layering fish with an even spread of salt applied on top.
• Wet-salting mixes lean fish with food-grade salt stored in airtight containers, allowing brine to form through salt dissolution.
• Smoking treats fish with smoke from smoldering materials, typically combined with salting, drying, and heating.
• Regenerated smoke is produced by atomizing smoke condensate in controlled smokemaking conditions.
• Smoke drying reduces moisture in fish to 10% or less, allowing storage without refrigeration.
• Drying lowers fish moisture content while ensuring hygienic control.
• Hot smoking effectively coagulates fish proteins, eliminating many pathogens and parasites.
• Cold smoking utilizes a gentle process that does not significantly coagulate proteins but reduces water activity.
• Smoke condensates come from thermal degradation of wood, with important products fractionated afterward.
• Smoke flavors include natural condensates or chemically defined blends for flavor enhancement.
• Salting is a method to lower water activity in fish and enhance flavor using various salting technologies.
• Packaging involves placing smoked or smoke-flavored fish in suitable containers under specific oxygen conditions to prevent spoilage.
• Storage conditions are critical to maintain safety and quality of smoked or smoke-flavored fish.

Lobster Processing

• Autolysis refers to the breakdown of lobster meat by enzymes.
• Black spot indicates dark pigmentation due to enzyme reactions in damaged lobster.
• The butt end of the tail is the portion of the lobster tail muscle extending into the cephalothorax.
• The cephalothorax is the fused region of the lobster's head and thorax.
• Cooking lobsters involves boiling in clean seawater or heating to coagulate proteins effectively.
• Deterioration includes natural quality reduction processes post-harvest.
• Deveining involves removing the intestine from the lobster tail.
• Insensible means the lobster is unresponsive due to prior pacifying processes.
• Pasteurization treats lobster meat with heat to eliminate spoilage without altering quality.
• Shucking is removing meat from the shell and appendages.
• Trimming removes traces of blood or gut remnants from lobster meat.
• Waste includes parts left over after meat removal.

Crab Processing

• Batch systems process crabs in bulk instead of individually.
• Butchering entails removing the crab back shell, viscera, and gills.
• Brown meat refers to edible crab parts, excluding claws and legs.
• Cooking crabs mirrors the lobster method with boiling or steaming.
• Pasteurization of crab meat follows the same principles as with lobsters.
• Picking is extracting meat from the shell using machines or by hand.
• Shaking involves physically removing crab meat, especially from larger species.
• Waste is what remains post the meat extraction process.

Shrimp Processing

• Head removal is done before processing shrimp.
• Deveined shrimp have the gut removed after being peeled.
• Fresh shrimp are unprocessed and caught recently, excluding cooked variants.
• Peeled shrimp have all shell and head removed.
• The term shrimp encompasses various species defined by FAO classifications.

Canning and Food Processing

• Canned food is commercially sterile in hermetically sealed containers.
• Hermetically sealed containers provide safety against microorganism contamination post-treatment.
• Retorts are pressure vessels used for thermal food processing.
• Scheduled processes define the heat treatment standards for achieving sterility.
• Sterilization relies on specific temperatures and times to eliminate harmful organisms.
• Thermal processes are crucial for food safety during storage.
• Fish sauce results from the fermentation of fish and salt into a salty liquid.
• Caviar is made from the eggs of sturgeon treated with food-grade salt.

Retail and Consumer Handling

• Retail operations provide fish and seafood products directly to consumers.
• Packaged seafood refers to items ready for consumer pickup, stored chilled or frozen.
• Full-service displays allow customers to select and receive weighed and wrapped seafood products.

This quiz explores the impact of biotoxins found in fish and fishery products, including how they accumulate through interactions with toxic-producing algae. Additionally, it addresses the significance of proper chilling methods and the importance of clean water in maintaining food safety for aquatic products.