Eat-safe.com - How to Select and Handle your Seafood?

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How to Select and Handle your Seafood?

Eating fish strengthens the circulatory system and possibly
the immune system. Omega-3s found in fish are important to
good health. The latest studies suggest a critical role in
preventing birth defects in premature infants, easing depression and easing the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

Even one fish meal a week can help to lower blood pressure,
triglycerides and cholesterol thus decreasing the risk of heart
disease and some forms of cancer. This does not mean that you should limit yourself to just eating fish. The body still needs a variety of food for optimal health. In fact, most experts recommend 2-3 fish meals per week.

Although fish is appearing more frequently on the home table,
75% of fish meals are eaten in restaurants. Consumers still
have doubts about selecting and cooking fish at home. Mainly
because "It smells up the house," and people “don't know how to tell if it is fresh." Some people also question the safety of fish.

To minimize the risk, try to avoid eating raw fish.

Selecting fresh fish is more difficult than cooking it. Most of us are forced to buy fish in a supermarket. If cooking fish smells up your house, it is not fresh! That fishy smell means the fish is decaying. Fresh fish has cucumber-like, sea-breeze smell.

Because fish is highly perishable, it must be kept very cold until ready to use. On a hot summer day, fresh fish can spoil in your car in thirty minutes. Transport fish in a cooler on ice or with an ice pack. Once home, store fish on a pan with ice cubes in the refrigerator or place the ice pack on top of it until ready to cook. Never store fish in the refrigerator for more than a day.

Follow these suggestions when selecting fish:

	Shop at a store you trust to sell fresh fish. Look for fish displays with plenty of ice and a fresh smell. Whole fish should be partially covered with crushed ice and fillets and steaks should be on top of ice.
	Be flexible. Buy the freshest looking fish. If you are shopping for tuna steaks but the salmon looks fresher and it arrived today, buy the salmon. Ask when fish is usually delivered and try to buy fish the same day it arrives.
	Whole fish stays fresh longer than fillets and steaks. Whole fish should look alive. They should have shiny, undamaged scales and bright pink or red gills. Ask to see the gills and buy the one with the brightest gills. Brown or gray means decay. Do not bother checking the eyes. The eyes of some fish become cloudy and sunken immediately while others stay clear after the entire body has rotted. Have the whole fish you have selected scaled, cut into steaks or filleted.
	For pre-cut fillets and steaks avoid pieces with pink spots (usually bruises) or brown. Darker fleshed fish is usually stronger in flavour. Tuna, bluefish, Mahi-mahi, Mako shark, mackerel and swordfish should not have "rainbows" on the surface, it is a sign of decay. Press a finger into the fish flesh. If it looks mushy or leaves a lasting impression, reject it and look at another variety of fish.