Fish Hazards and Controls: More Than a Fish Story

From the FDA Web page

The Hazards Guide is a roadmap for commercial fishermen and processors to follow to ensure that consumers don’t become ill from parasites, pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi), or natural toxins (poisonous substances produced by living organisms) in the seafood they eat.

In April 2011, FDA released the fourth edition of the Hazards Guide and posted on the FDA website an introductory video to the guide for the seafood industry.

The Hazards Guide gives fishermen and seafood processors the latest scientific information on contaminants that can be present in their products and where they need controls to eliminate them.

For example, research conducted by FDA gave the agency new insights on what was needed to control scombrotoxin in the processing of tuna and mahi-mahi. Scombrotoxin is one of the most common causes of fish-related “food poisoning” in the U.S….

Related Resources

• Fresh and Frozen Seafood: Selecting and Serving it Safely
• Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance
• Cooperative Program Ensures Safe Shellfish (slideshow)
• Cooperative Program Ensures Safe Shellfish (Consumer Update)

Related articles

• “Seafood Processors, Importers Face FDA Scrutiny” and related posts (foodsafetynews.com)
• [Food Warning] Fish Often Mislabeled In U.S. (inquisitr.com)
• US FDA finally releases new Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance (fishconsultancy.wordpress.com)
• NYT: Something fishy about seafood labels (msnbc.msn.com)
• Tests Reveal Mislabeling of Fish (nytimes.com)