Objective The aims of the research are to improve competitiveness of the fishing industry and the safety of their products by providing a tool to help the industry to do rapid predictions of realistic shelf lives and risk assessments of their products, thereby improving quality and acceptability, reducing the number of rejections, minimizing microbiological health hazards and leading to more cost efficient quality assurance programmes. The objective of this research was to study the microbiological changes and spoilage of vacuumpacked and modified atmosphere packed chilled fish products with a view to predicting shelf life. Salmon steaks were stored at 0, 5 and 15 C in vacuum, while cod fillets were stored at 0 C both in vacuum and in atmosphere modified by 10 different combinations of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Provisional results towards Shewanella putrefaciens as the main spoilage bacteria at low temperature (0 C). However, at elevated temperature (5 C and higher), other bacteria are important as well. For vacuumpacked salmon steaks stored at 5 C, Aeromonas hydrophila was identifed as an equally important spoilage organism. Carbon dioxide was found to have a pronounced effect on both growth rate and maximum cell concentration of Shewanella. Growth of this organism can be described using the non linear logistic equation. It was concluded that although S putrefaciens has been identified as the main spoilage organism by the methods used, it is still unexplained why vacuumpacked and modified atmosphere packed fish spoil when only low levels (10{5} - 10{6} per gram) of specific spoilage organisms can be detected. This point needs clarification to elucidate the precise relationship between bacterial growth, sensory quality and shelf life of modified atmosphere packed and vacuumpacked products.The organisms responsible for spoilage differ from product to product and according to the prevailing environmental factors. For each type of product a characteristic microbial spoilage flora is likely to develop. The research work will be in 3 steps: studies of products; studies of microbial physiology including development of predictive models; and application of models to products and industry. Fields of science agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesfisheriesnatural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriologymedical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiology Programme(s) FP2-FAR - Community research and coordination programmes (EEC) in the fisheries sector, 1988-1992 Topic(s) Data not available Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme Data not available Coordinator Danmarks Tekniske Hoeskole EU contribution No data Address Bygn. 221 2800 Lyngby Denmark See on map Total cost No data Participants (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) United Kingdom EU contribution No data Address 135 Abbey Road AB9 8DG Aberdeen See on map Total cost No data
