Chapter 7 - Safety of Fish and Seafood

Abstract

Fish and sea food play an important role in the human diet. Over the years, consumption of these food products has increased worldwide. To meet the demand, aquaculture practice has been changed, leading to the contamination and pollution of human-made aquatic environments. These changes have raised concern not only for fish health but also the safety of human health with regard to the consumption of fish and seafood products. Various pathogens or their toxins in fish and fishery products are often associated with food-borne human diseases. Among them, bacterial species belonging to Vibrio, Listeria, Yersinia, Salmonella, Shigella, Escherichia, and Clostridium are very important, as they are often associated with aquatic environments and are responsible in causing food-borne diseases in human. A number of illnesses also arise from the consumption of seafood that has either been contaminated by pathogens at the source or during their harvest, handling, preparation, storing, and distribution. Some of the seafood products contaminated with saxitoxins cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, and some fish species of the Scombroid family contain very high levels of histamine and can cause scombrotoxic fish poisoning. Therefore, strict implementation of the hazard analysis critical control point system is necessary during the preparation of fish and seafood products to minimize or eliminate food-borne illness in humans.