Maintaining the Freshness of Seafood

When it comes to keeping seafood fresh and safe to consume, it can be notoriously difficult. Seafood is very nutritious and tasty, but it’s also prone to spoilage and easy to contaminate.

Here are some basic steps on how to safely store your seafood.

Storage Basics

Refrigerate right away once receiving your FISK delivery.

All deliveries by FISK are in temperature controlled trucks that meet the HACCP requirements. This is to ensure that there is a continuous cold chain from us to you.

Seafood that require refrigeration should be put in the refrigerator as soon as you receive them. Freeze frozen seafood if you intend to eat it from day two onwards. If you would like to eat frozen seafood on day one, store it in the chiller to defrost. Never allow seafood or other foods that require refrigeration to sit at room temperature for more than one hour.

Also, when putting food away, don’t crowd the refrigerator or freezer so tightly that air can’t circulate.

Keep your appliances at the proper temperatures. Keep the refrigerator temperature at or below 4° C. The freezer temperature should be -18° C. Check temperatures periodically.

Stay alert for spoiled food.

Anything that looks or smells suspicious should be thrown out. Mold is a sign of spoilage. It can grow even under refrigeration. Mold is not a major health threat, but it can make food unappetizing. The safest practice is to discard food that is moldy.

Be aware that food can make you very sick even when it doesn’t look, smell, or taste spoiled. That’s because foodborne illnesses are caused by pathogenic bacteria, which are different from the spoilage bacteria that make foods “go bad.” Many pathogenic organisms are present in raw or undercooked seafood. Keeping these foods properly chilled will slow the growth of bacteria.

Following the other recommended food handling practices will further reduce your risk of getting sick — clean your hands, surfaces and produce, separate raw foods from ready-to-eat foods, and cook to safe temperatures.

Refrigeration tips

Clean the refrigerator regularly and wipe spills immediately.

This helps reduce the growth of Listeria bacteria and prevents drips from thawing seafood that can allow bacteria from one food to spread to another. Clean the fridge out frequently.

Keep foods covered.

Store refrigerated foods in covered containers or sealed storage bags, and check leftovers daily for spoilage. Portion out your seafood to plan for the weeks meal. Take what you need and the rest to se stored in the refrigerator.

Uni, Sashimi and Oysters need extra care

These seafood are much more sensitive thus extra care is needed.

Besides practicing good hygiene, time and temperature are the two main factors that could cause food poisoning.

Time – Raw seafood should be consumed on the day of delivery when kept in the chiller. When serving, it should not be left on the table for more than 30 minutes. This is to prevent bacteria from forming.

If the package is too big, portion out what is needed and keep the rest in the chiller.

Once the raw product has been out of the chiller for more than 30 minutes, we do not recommend to re-chill or re-freeze.

Temperature – The temperature in your chiller should be constant. Frequent opening and closing of the chiller is not recommended as the temperature increases in the chiller causing raw seafood to grow bacteria and due to condensation, tiny ice crystals are formed which changes the texture of raw seafood.