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• Rinse raw seafood under cold, running water to remove bacteria.
• Always marinate your seafood under refrigeration, never at room temperature.  
• Cook seafood thoroughly with a continuous heat source because interrupted cooking could promote bacterial growth.  Keep hot foods at 140⁰ F or higher and cold foods at 41⁰ F or lower.
• Never leave cooked seafood at room temperature for more than 30 minutes.
• Cook seafood for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, and measure at the thickest point.  If baking, cook at 450⁰ F and deep fat fry at 375⁰ F.  Add five minutes to your total cooking time if your fish is cooked in a sauce or is wrapped in foil or parchment.  The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recommends fish reach an internal temperature of 145⁰ F for 15 seconds.
• The FDA recommends that in-shell oysters be steamed four to nine minutes or broiled three to five minutes after gaping.  Shucked oysters should be fried for three minutes at 375⁰ F; broiled, three minutes three inches from the heat source; baked, 10 minutes at 475⁰ F; or boiled, three minutes.
• Clams should be steamed for four to nine minutes.

From: Mariner’s Menu: 30 Years of Fresh Seafood Ideas

Contributed by Barry Nash

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Seafood is an important part of a healthy diet because it is a good source of high-quality protein, is generally low in calories and fat, and has Omega-3 fatty acids that have many positive health benefits. The American Heart Association and Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 recommend eating at least two servings of seafood each week.

However, some consumers hear negative information about one type or species of seafood such as oysters and avoid seafood all together. In addition, food safety messages for certain “at-risk” groups are frequently misunderstood or followed by consumers who are not at risk.

Therefore, remind consumers that eating any raw animal food is risky, but cooking and effective post-cooking handling reduces the risk of foodborne illness.

Prevention

How to reduce the risk of bacterial infection by Vibrio vulnificus is important for everyone. However, some helpful ideas for educating consumers are:

• Consumers with weakened immunity such as diabetics, dialysis patients and individuals with liver disease, cancer or AIDS are advised to eat only thoroughly cooked seafood and avoid consuming raw seafood, especially oysters.
• Stress that thorough cooking kills harmful bacteria and viruses in seafood, meat and poultry. Demonstrate the proper cooking of shellfish and/or provide cooked oyster recipes.
• Obtain free consumer brochures from the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference, or ask your physician or other health care professionals to provide free ISSC Vibrio vulnificus Fact Sheets.

Remember, thorough cooking of oysters will destroy the potentially harmful Vibrio bacteria!

Source: This information was provided by SafeOysters.org

Contributed by David Green

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Seafood in the United States is now safer than ever, in part due to a federally mandated inspection program that began in 1997.

HACCP, or Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, is a science-based, food safety monitoring program used by the food industry to control the risks associated with certain food products.

Though retail markets remain exempt from the HACCP regulations, they are encouraged by the FDA to apply the same principles.

Even though seafood inspection programs exist, consumers also play a role in seafood safety. Choose your retail market carefully, and handle and serve food with care in your home. Here are a few tips when purchasing your fresh seafood at a local market:

• Buy only from reputable sources.
• Buy only fresh seafood that is properly iced or refrigerated.
• Don’t buy cooked seafood if it is in the same case as raw seafood.
• Don’t buy frozen seafood if packages are damaged or broken.
• Get seafood home and on ice or refrigerated quickly.

Enjoy your fresh North Carolina seafood!

Adapted from: Mariner’s Menu: 30 Years of Fresh Seafood Ideas

Contributed by David Green

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Approximately 2 percent of adults and 5 percent of infants and small children in the United States suffer from food allergies.

The cause is natural allergenic proteins found in food that can pose a health risk to sensitive individuals.

Symptoms include a tingling sensation in the mouth, swelling of the tongue and throat and difficulty breathing. More severe cases include hives, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea and a drop in blood pressure.

The eight foods defined as major food allergens are:

• Milk
• Eggs
• Fish (e.g., finfish; salmon, cod and flounder)
• Crustacean shellfish (e.g., crab, lobster and shrimp)
• Tree nuts
• Peanuts
• Wheat
• Soybeans

Food allergic consumers must learn to avoid those foods which make them ill.

For industry, the basic safety controls for allergens are product declarations (labeling) and monitoring in processing operations to prevent cross contamination among foods.

The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 requires that all FDA-regulated packaged foods that contain a major food allergen to clearly identify the name of the food source.

For more information on seafood allergens visit the FDA website.

Contributed by David Green

Histamine fish poisoning accounts for one third of all seafood-borne illnesses reported in the United States.

Histamine is present in various amounts in many foods. Fresh fish at harvest, however, are virtually free of histamine, but post-harvest conditions that allow for the growth of spoilage bacteria can result in histamine formation.

Human illness occurs rapidly after ingestion of fish with elevated histamine levels and lasts from several minutes to a few hours. Symptoms include allergic-like responses such as headache, dizziness, swelling of the tongue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain. Histamine fish poisoning is usually self-limiting, and recovery is complete. Sensitive individuals may need to seek medical treatment.

Histamine is produced by certain spoilage organisms through action of enzymes which converts the amino acid histidine to histamine. The disease is completely preventable by proper icing of fish at harvest and maintaining iced conditions throughout distribution and storage.

For proper icing methods, read “How to Bring Home Your Fish” or for more information on histamine fish poisoning, go to Sea Grant

Contributed by David Green

Earlier this summer, the NC State University Seafood Laboratory and NC Sea Grant, in cooperation with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s marine laboratory in Beaufort, NC, conducted a sensory evaluation on lionfish harvested off the North Carolina central coast.

Lionfish and pink snapper (also caught locally) were prepared with the herb seasoning profiled above.

Twenty individuals, who enjoyed eating snapper and grouper and liked the flavor of butter, basil and butter, were selected as sensory panelists. Each was asked to rate and compare the flavor, texture, color and appearance of both fish on a numerical scale of 1 (Terrible) to 7 (Excellent). The scores were statistically analyzed to discern significant differences.

The results showed the color and appearance of the two fish did not differ significantly, but the averaged scores for flavor and texture did significantly differ. Panelists’ comments indicated that half preferred pink snapper because of its firmer texture, and as a result, were inclined to rate its flavor as being slightly better than lionfish. Fifteen percent preferred the lionfish and 35 percent of panelists had no preference. The overall scores of both fish scored in the range of “Good” (5.0 to 5.9) to “Very Good” (6 to 6.9), indicating most of the panelists found both species appealing. This information suggests that lionfish has commercial potential as a food source.

Contributed by Barry Nash

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It’s always best to cook seafood thoroughly to minimize the risk of foodborne illness. However, if you choose to eat raw or partially cooked fish and shellfish anyway, there are some things you should know.

One rule of thumb is to consume raw fish only if it has been previously frozen. Some species of fish can contain parasites, and freezing will kill any parasites that may be present. However, be aware that freezing doesn’t kill all harmful microorganisms. That’s why the safest route is to cook your seafood.

Some oysters are treated for safer consumption after they are harvested, but that information may or may not be on the label. This post-harvest treatment eliminates some naturally occurring pathogens, but it does not remove all pathogens that can cause illness. Treated oysters should still not be eaten raw by high-risk individuals for foodborne illness, those individuals with liver disease, alcoholism, cancer (including leukemia and lymphoma), diabetes, and HIV.

The best way to minimize foodborne illness with any raw food is to cook it thoroughly. This way, you gain the nutritional and health benefits while reducing the risk of illness!

For more information on how to safely eat raw seafood, visit FDA or safe oysters.

Contributed by David Green

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Recent studies on the pros and cons of fish consumption clearly show that avoiding fish altogether in your diet is risking your health. Everyone should aim to have two servings per week.

Seafood is a key source of protein and heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids. And including a variety of fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as tuna and salmon, can reduce your risk of death from a heart attack.

If you are pregnant, may become pregnant, or nursing young children, do make sure that you include two servings of fish each week from species that are low in mercury. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends avoiding large, predatory fish such as shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish. Instead pick low mercury species like Alaskan salmon, catfish, freshwater rainbow trout, oysters, shrimp, pollock, sardines, anchovies and canned light tuna.

For more information on what fish can be safely consumed during pregnancy, go to FDA’s suggestions on mercury and seafood.

Contributed by David Green