Fish and Seafood Analysis
Fish and seafood are becoming increasingly popular as foodstuffs and are landing on the dinner plate of more and more consumers. Fish are classified as freshwater or saltwater based on their origin and come from either open waters or aquaculture.
Seafood is the term used to describe all other edible marine animals that are not vertebrates. These include, for example, shellfish (oysters, squid) and crustaceans (shrimp, prawns, lobster).
The Tentamus Group, with its global network of accredited laboratories, can help you ensure the quality of fish products and seafood.
Challenges in placing fish and seafood on the market
Fish and seafood spoil very quickly, even when refrigerated. Therefore, marketers face several challenges to provide safe and high quality fish and seafood products to the market.
Processing and storage
To ensure the hygienic and microbiological quality of products, rapid processing and proper storage are essential. In industrial fishing, seafood is often slaughtered, descaled, gutted and possibly filleted already on board of the fishing boat. In the case of smaller fishing boats, further processing is sometimes only carried out on shore in a timely manner. To ensure high quality, seafood should be refrigerated or frozen as soon as possible after catching to ensure freshness and safety of the food.
Fresh seafood should be chilled down to 0 to 2 °C immediately after catch, preferably properly in melting ice. Deep freezing is done at -40°C. All processing companies must also ensure hygienic manufacturing, transport and storage conditions.
Environmental pollutants and residues
Today, many of the fish and seafood that end up on your dinner plate are farmed in aquacultures. However, there are drawbacks to this type of commercial fishing. Aquacultured seafood is often more contaminated with environmental pollutants or residues of antibiotics or other veterinary drugs than wild fish. Fatty fish (e.g. salmon, mackerel) as well as shrimp and mussels, which filter the water for food, are particularly affected.
Necessary tests for the analysis of fish and seafood
To guarantee freshness and high quality of fish and other seafood, critical controls and regular analysis of the final products are necessary.
Tentamus therefore offers a range of quality controls specifically for fish and seafood. We recommend the following analyses:
Examination for microbiological contamination
Microbiological contamination not only leads to premature spoilage of food but can also cause serious diseases in the human organism. Fish meat is an ideal breeding ground for microbial pathogens due to its high water content. If the cold chain is interrupted, bacteria and germs spread more quickly and reduce the microbiological quality of the food. Therefore, maintaining the cold chain throughout the value chain is very important.
Furthermore, fish and seafood should be stored separately from other foods to avoid cross-contamination.
The following pathogens often enter fish and seafood due to inadequate hygiene measures:
- Listeria
- Staphylococci
- Salmonella
- Shigella
- E. coli
Pathogenic germs can get to food, for example, through smear infections or contaminated water during storage or processing. Therefore, a high standard of hygiene (personnel, machinery, premises, disinfection) should always be maintained. In addition, the ice and water used during processing must be of drinking water quality.
Testing for contamination and residues
Environmental pollutants enter the water in different ways and are absorbed by marine animals. They accumulate in the organs and fatty tissue of the animals. Despite increased efforts in environmental protection and improved technologies, environmental pollutants are repeatedly detected in fish and seafood, in some cases even substances that have been banned for years. The most common environmental pollutants include:
- Heavy metals (cadmium, mercury and lead).
- Dioxins & furans
- Dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
- Mineral oil components
- Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)
To treat or prevent diseases, various medicines (e.g. antibiotics) are administered to marine animals in commercial fish farming. Residues of these can sometimes be found in the animals even after they have been caught. In the past, increased residues of pharmacological substances have been found, especially in catches from non-European countries.
Contamination with the pesticide ethoxyquin is also a problem. Ethoxyquin is suspected, among other things, of affecting liver metabolism in humans and of being carcinogenic.
Our accredited laboratories use various methods to analyze these substances. These include gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry to detect PCBs.
Audits and HACCP
Regular audits are part of good quality management in every food company. Our experienced and trained auditors know all current legal regulations and can perfectly support you in the practical evaluation and improvement of your hygiene concept.
We also offer HACCP training courses. Our team of experts will provide you with important know-how in the hygienic handling of food at all stages of the value chain.
Sample shipment
for fish and seafood analysis
You have several options for sending your fish products and seafood to our laboratories:
- You bring them yourself to one of our laboratories
- You commission a qualified shipping company or
- You leave the sample collection to us
If you arrange the transport yourself, please take urgent care that the cold chain is not interrupted until the goods have reached us. To arrange an appointment for sample collection by our specialized logistics team, simply contact us.
Relevant legal bases & directives
The most important regulations (on an EU basis as well as on a German basis) are listed below:
- Regulation (EC) No. 2406/96 (common marketing standards for certain fishery products)
- Regulation (EEC) No. 2136/89 (marketing standards for canned fish)
- Regulation (EU) No. 1379/2013 (common organization of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products)
- Regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005 (consolidated text) (microbiological criteria for food)
- Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 (EU hygiene rules for food of animal origin)
- Regulation (EU) No. 37/2010 (veterinary medicinal products in food of animal origin)
- Regulation (EC) No. 470/2009 (Maximum residue limits regulation for veterinary medicinal products)
- Regulation (EU) No. 2023/915 (Contaminants Regulation)
- Maximum Residue Limits Ordinance (RHmV)
- Animal Food Hygiene Ordinance (Tier-LMHV)
- Guidelines for fish and fish products
Get in touch with our team:
food@tentamus.com
+49 30 206 038 230
Overview of
laboratories offering analysis of fish & seafood
The following laboratories from the Tentamus Group offer analyses of fish & seafood:
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