Seafood Business-11/99
Processing additive
combats seafood spoilage, odor
Sodium
chlorite, already used as an anti-microbial agent to process red meat and
poultry, can now be added to seafood-processing water or ice to help reduce odor
and extend shelf life.
The
use of “acidified solutions” of sodium chlorite for seafood processing was
approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the Aug 13 Federal
Register.
The
listing was in response to a petition filed last December by Bio-Cide
International, a Norman, Okla.-based company that makes a proprietary form of
sodium chlorite that it calls Keeper.
“The
industry has never had an approved, effective anti-microbial agent [for
seafood] that doesn’t have associated environmental concerns,” says Bio-Cide
President Bob Vahlberg.
Studies
of Keeper’s effectiveness- ranging from microbial reduction to shelf-life
extension – are ongoing at the University of Florida. Treated shrimp, for
example, has shown shelf-life gains of up to five days, Vahlberg says.
Salmon
and trout have also been tested. “We know that after three days, treated
salmon is still of fresh quality, with no odor, compared with untreated
salmon” he says.
“
The difference after five to seven days is more dramatic.”
Vahlberg
adds that Keeper also addresses food-safety concerns, since it reduces bacteria
such as Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli.
Acidified
sodium chlorite generates small amount of chlorine dioxide, a powerful
anti-microbial agent. Sodium chlorite was first approved for food processing in
1996, says Robert L. Martin of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied
Nutrition.
No
labeling requirements are necessary for processors, Martin adds, but raw seafood
that comes into contact with sodium chlorite should be rinsed before
consumption.
John
Burgos of Puretech, Inc., a Massachusetts-based company that will distribute
Keeper, estimates the product could cost customers $11 to $12 a day to treat the
ice in a 10-ton ice machine.
Despite
the federal green light, some industry observers are taking a wait-and-see
attitude. “It might have a significant impact,” but no single element is a
magic bullet, says Robert Price of the Sea Grant program at the University of
California.
Bob
Collette of the National Fisheries Institute agrees: “ The more tools that we
have [to protect seafood], the better off we all are” – Rick Ramseyer
Printed with
permission from Seafood Business Magazine
