From Water to Waiter:
Ensuring seafood safety and quality
in the Australian market
Hannah Williams
Curtin University of Technology
Perth, Western Australia
Aquaculture in Australia
• Wild caught fisheries are stagnant or
diminishing
• Aquaculture is the fastest growing
primary industry in Australia
Aquaculture seafood production 2005-06
Trout
1.4%
Barramundi Other
2.3% 11.7%
Salmon
29.5%
Prawns
85%
6.7%
Oysters
11.2%
Tuna
20.8%
(Pearls)
16.3%
ABARE, Fisheries Statistics, 2007
AUS $ 748 million
ABARE, Fisheries Statistics, 2007
“From water to waiter”
Water:
Environmental issues
Growth & Nutrition
Population dispersion
NATIONAL AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, 2002
Environmental issues
• Perceived
– Altering the aquatic environment
•
“The water coming out
Issues
of my
– Pollution farm is cleaner
than the water going
– Introduction of pests
in!!!”
– Culling of natural predators
• Industry response Queensland prawn farmer
– Implementation of Environmental
Management Systems
Growth and Nutrition
• Ensuring consistency of growth and
safety of product
– Feed quality
• Nutritionally adequate
• Dioxins and PCB levels in the feed
• Wash-out effect (Tuna)
– Feeding behaviours
• Development of automated feeding systems
– Season (temperature, rainfall, light etc)
• Photo-period manipulation
Harvest and handling
“Remember - it’s somebody’s
dinner!” WA SQMI
Safety Standards
• The legislation
– Food Standards Australia & New Zealand
(FSANZ)
– Standard 4.2.1 Primary Production and
Processing Standard for Seafood (2005)
• Applies to anyone catching or farming fish for
sale (retail or trade)
– Chapter 3 - Food Safety Standards
• Applies to all processors & shellfish farmers
Interpretation
• Seafood is FOOD!!!
• Duty of care
– “Take all reasonable measure”
– “Ensure safety and suitability”
– GMP
– RECORDS!!
• Traceability
– One step back and one step forward
• Producers of bivalve molluscs are required to
have a demonstrable food safety system
Quality & Safety Standards
• The Industry
– A wide variety of operators
with a range of skills,
differing business
objectives, varying financial
support, and production
efficiency.
• Need to address the high
variability in quality of the
product
Need
• Variability in
– Production procedures,
– Handling and processing techniques,
– Understanding and expertise,
– Willingness to address quality,
• How can this be addressed?
A Case Study – How old is old?
• Quality Index Method
– Rapid evaluation of remaining shelf life
based on sensory parameters
– Determined via a shelf life study
– Validated against microbial, chemical and
physical measures
• Red Throated Emperor (Lethrinus miniatus)
Day 3 Day 23
Eyes: Pupils: Clear and black 0
Cloudy 1
Grey, milky 2
Form: Convex 0
Flat 1
Sunken 2
Day 3 Day 23
Gills: Colour: Fresh, blood red/pinkish 0
Pale red/pink 1
Starting to go brown 2
Brown 3
Mucus: Transparent 0
Milky 1
Orange/brown 2
Odour: Fresh, seaweed 0
Metal, cucumber 1
Sour, mouldy 2
Rotten 3
Changes in the QI scheme and
Torry score over storage time
25 10
9
20 8
7
15 6
QI
5
Torry
10 4
3
5 2
1
0 0
Day 3 Day 5 Day 8 Day 10 Day 13 Day 16 Day 19 Day 23
Days on ice
Torry
scheme
TVB-N vs QI
25.00
0.923
20.00
mg/100g TVB-N
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
3 5 8 10 13 16 19 23
-5.00
QI
Bacterial count vs QI
4.5
4 0.877
TVC (AC plate)
3.5
Enterobacteriaceae
3
lo g cfu /g
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0.948
0
3 5 8 10 13 16 19 23
QI
Day 3
Day 23
Quality Parameter: Description: Score:
Skin/body: Colour / Fresh & bright, red all over (distinctive red 0
appearance: head and along the lateral line) or green all
over (distinctive green head and lateral
line).
Not so fresh and bright starting to loose 1
the main colour (red/green)
Starting to go grey 2
Grey, dull, boring to look at 3
Slime: Clear, not clotted 0
Milky, white 1
Yellow 2
Odour: Fresh sea smell, neutral 0
Metal, hay, cucumber 1
Dish cloth, sour 2
Rotten 3
Texture: In rigor 0
Finger marks disappears rapidly 1
Finger leaves mark over 3 sec 2
Tail or caudal fin: Fresh & bright red 0
Starting to lose colour, going pale 1
Changing colour to purple/greenish 2
QI vs days on ice
25
20 y= 0.740x + 0.957
R2=0.979
QI Score
15
10
5
0
Day 3 Day 5 Day 8 Day 10 Day 13 Day 16 Day 19 Day 23 Day 25
Days on ice
Processing
Seafood processing
Processed Waste
•Smoked utilisation
Frozen or
•Dried
Fresh
•Salted
Evaluation •Other?
•Colour
•Texture Packaging
•Slime
•Vacuum pack
•Eyes
•Sensory attributes Preparation •Canning
•Gut •Over-wrap or bag
•Fillet
•Purge
Contamination
•Bacteria Frozen processed
•Heavy metals •Freeze
•Parasites
Marinated
•Cut •Steam
•Batter •Mix marinated
•Crumb •Steep
•Fast fry
Issues
• Impacts of processing on seafood
– Quality
• Colour
• Texture
• Conformation
– Safety
• This is often assumed!!
• Industry response
– Seafood Quality and Safety Guidelines
A Case Study – Black Lobsters??
Lobster characteristics
• Season
• Moult stage
• Gender
• Initial PPO activity No significant
• Protein level impact
• Total Phenols level
Handling and processing
factors
• Transportation
• Holding
• Drowning No significant
• Position in the cooker impact
• Antibrowning agents Significant
• Cooking Highly significant
Melanosis vs. heat input
11
10 Target heat input
= 36 mins at 90oC
Ratio of lobsters with melansois
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Calculated heat input
The changing market
Fresh 4% Imported
(244,404 tonnes) 60% (188,477 tonnes)
40%
23%
Processed
Local Fresh
market 20%
80%
73% 43% 57%
Export Foodservice Retail
Takeaway Grocery
Multiple
uses Dining out Convenience
Event/leisure Specialised
Institutional
Source of seafood consumed in domestic market
wild
imported processed
24%
27%
aquaculture
7%
imported fresh
42%
The Consumer
“Consumers are looking for convenience,
quality and value in fish and seafood”
‘quick and easy’ meal solutions
Increasingly eating out or eating
pre-prepared foods
Ruello and Associates Pty Ltd, 2002, RETAIL SALE AND CONSUMPTION OF SEAFOOD - REVISED EDITION, FRDC, Canberra
The Seafood retailer
Seafood retailer
“Demand outstrips supply”
“Is less innovative and responsive to
changes in Australian lifestyles and the
changing desires of food consumers.”
“Must change from selling mostly raw
fillets, to a meal-solutions business”
Ruello and Associates Pty Ltd, 2002, RETAIL SALE AND CONSUMPTION OF SEAFOOD - REVISED EDITION, FRDC, Canberra
The NEW seafood
retailer
Seafood Secrets
The secret to success
• Providing options
• Providing knowledge
The Seafood Sorcery
Meal Matrix
• Step 1: Select your fish
• Step 2: Decide the cooking style
• Step 3: Choose a Flavour.
Pre-cooking Flavours
Cook-in Flavours
Finishing flavours
• Step 4: Add a side dish
• Step 5: ENJOY!!!
Outstanding issues…
• Challenging the mindset
• Improving communication
• Up-skilling
• Overcome the ‘tyranny of distance’
Overall?
The industry is vibrant
& growing but still has a way to go!!!