Seafood HACCP Alliance for Training and Education

Chapter 4

Seafood Safety Hazards

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In this chapter you will learn about:

• Food Safety Hazards that have been associated with seafood and are considered “reasonably likely to occur” if not subject to appropriate controls

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Hazards: a biological, chemical or physical agent that is reasonably likely to cause illness or injury in the absence of appropriate controls.

Undesirable conditions may not impose a particular food safety hazard, but they are subject to other regulatory controls and prerequisite requirements (i.e., GMPs and Sanitation Control Procedures (SCPs). Examples include:• Insects• Hair• Filth• Spoilage• Economic fraud• Violations of regulatory food standards not directly related to safety

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Potential seafood safety hazards can be grouped in three categories: • Biological Hazards • Chemical Hazards • Physical Hazard

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Biological Hazards in foods can involve: • bacteria • viruses • parasites • yeasts • molds

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Microorganisms that can be pathogenic and cause seafoodborne illnesses: • Bacteria • Viruses • Parasite

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Bacterial Hazards: • Foodborne infection • Foodborne intoxication

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• Seafood products commonly eaten raw: oysters, clams, conch and sushi

• Seafood Ready-To-Eat (RTE) products: pre-cooked and frozen shrimp, smoked fish, pickled fish, pasteurized crab meat, and pasteurized surimi (fabricated seafood analog).

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What bacteria need for favorable growth: • Food (nutrients from the seafood) • Water (moisture in the seafood) • Proper temperature • Air, minimal air or no air (reduced-oxygen)

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Groups of Bacterial Hazards: • Sporeforming bacteria – Clostridium botulinum – Bacillus cereus – Clostridium perfringens

• Non-Sporeforming bacteria – Listeria monocytogenes – Salmonella spp. (e.g., S. typhimurium, S. enteriditis) – Shigella spp. (e.g., S. dysenteriae) – Pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus – Vibrio spp. (e.g., V. cholerae, V. parahaemolyticus, V. vulnificus) – Others (Campylobacter jejuni, Yersina enterocolitica, Shigella spp. and Escherichia coli)

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Some controls for Clostridium botulinum in seafood: • Destroy spores during processing (e.g., thermal processing [canning] or proper cooking to destroy the spores). • Prevent potential growth by proper salting, drying, or pickling (acidification). • Proper refrigeration, particularly for raw, non-frozen seafood packaged in anaerobic conditions (limited oxygen). • Packaging refrigerated fishery products in permeable film that allows enough oxygen exposure to prevent anaerobic growth.

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Some controls for Bacillus cereus in seafood: • Proper sanitation to prevent product contamination

(product source, process facilities and personnel) • Proper chilling rates for warm prepared food • Proper refrigeration for prepared, ready-to-eat (RTE)

food with extended shelf live

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Some controls for Listeria monocytogenes in seafood: • Proper sanitation to prevent product contamination

(product source, process facilities, and personnel) • Proper refrigeration to prevent growth • Proper cooking • Prevent cross-contamination after cooking

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Some controls for Salmonella spp. in seafood: • Proper sanitation to prevent product contamination

(product source, process facilities and personnel) • Proper refrigeration to prevent growth • Proper cooking • Prevent cross-contamination after cooking

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Some controls for Staphylococcus aureus in seafood: • Proper sanitation to prevent product contamination

(product source, process facilities and personnel) • Proper refrigeration to prevent growth • Proper cooking • Prevent cross-contamination after cooking

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Some controls for Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus in seafood: • Product harvested from approved sources • Proper refrigeration from harvest through processing • Proper cooking • Consumption advisories for more susceptible consumer

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Hazards from viruses in foods • Not truly "alive" • Exist everywhere • Do not grow in food • Do not spoil food • Transmitted by people, food and contaminated water • Cause illness by infection

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Viruses: • Hepatitis A virus causes fever and abdominal discomfort, followed by jaundice. • Norovirus group (formerly Norwalk Virus) causes

nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain (gastroenteritis). Headache and low grade fever may also occur.

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Some controls for viruses in seafood: • Product from approved sources • Thorough cooking

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Parasites are organisms that need a host to survive. • Thousands of kinds exist worldwide but only less than

100 types are known to infect people through food consumption.

• Two types of concern from food or water: – Parasitic worms [e.g., roundworms (nematodes),

tapeworms (cestodes), and flukes (trematodes)] – Protozoa, microscopic single-cell animal

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Methods of preventing transmission of parasites to foods by fecal contamination include: • good personal hygiene practices by food handlers, • proper disposal of human feces, • elimination of insufficiently treated sewage to fertilize

crops, and • proper sewage treatment

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Parasitic Worms: • Cryptosporidium parvum • Nematodes and roundworms (Anasakis simplex, Pseudoterranova dicepiens, Eustrongylides

spp. and Gnathostoma spp.) • Cestodes or tapeworms (Diphyllobothrium latum) • Trematodes or flukes (Chlonorchis sinensis, Heterophyes spp., Metagonimus spp., and others

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Some controls for Anisakis simplex, P. decipiens and D. latum parasites in seafood: • Proper freezing • Proper cooking

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• Chemical hazard in seafood due to natural conditions • Chemical hazards added intentionally but improperly • Chemical hazards due to unintentional or accidental contamination (potentially toxic compounds or

ingredients) • Allergens

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Biotoxins – naturally occurring chemical hazards: • Shellfish Biotoxins – Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP; domoic acid) – Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP; okadaic acid) – Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning (NSP) – Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP; saxitoxins) • Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP) • Tetrodotoxins (puffer fish poisoning) • Scombrotoxins (fish histamine poisoning)

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Control for shellfish biotoxins in seafood: • Only harvest approved shellfish products from approved waters

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Control for ciguatera in seafood: • Do not process certain fish harvested from waters that

have been designated as potentially ciguatoxic

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Control for tetrodotoxin in seafood: • Do not process certain fish (puffer fish) that have been

designated as potentially tetrodotoxic

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Control for gempylotxin in seafood: • Do not process certain potentially gempylotoxic fish

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Control for potential scombrotoxin in seafood: • Temperature controls from the moment of harvest

through processing, storage, and product distribution

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Intentionally Added Chemicals • Directly added ingredients (allowable limits under

GMPs) – Preservatives (e.g., nitrite and sulfiting agents) – Nutritional additives (e.g., niacin) – Color additive

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Controls for intentionally added chemicals in seafood: • Use proper type and amount of chemicals. • Label product to inform consumers (e.g., sulfites)

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Some controls for use of aquaculture drugs: • Only use approved chemicals in approved manner. • When necessary, only use certain controlled drugs in

the manner prescribed by a recognized veterinary expert. • Test for any excessive residuals in final products.

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Unintentionally or Incidentally Added Chemicals: • Agricultural chemicals (e.g., pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, antibiotics, growth hormones) • Cleaning chemicals (e.g., sanitizers, chlorine, acids,

caustics) • Maintenance chemicals (e.g., lubricants, paints) • Prohibited substances and toxic elements (e.g., lead,

zinc, arsenic, mercury, cyanide) • Polycholrinated Biphenyls (PCBs)

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Some controls for unintentional or incidental chemical contamination of seafood: • Proper use of cleaning and maintenance chemicals in the processing areas • Proper location and monitoring of aquaculture farming operations relative to potential land runoffs and spraying of hazardous chemicals. • Do not harvest from polluted or non-approved waters • Product screening relative to source

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• Milk • Peanuts • Soybeans • Eggs

• Tree Nuts • Wheat • Fish • Crustaceans

Most common food allergens:

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Control for potential allergens in seafood: • Product labeling to inform consumers

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Physical Hazard: Any extraneous matter not normally found

in food that could cause physical injury.

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Control for potential glass inclusion in seafood: • Examination of glass containers for breakage

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Controls for potential metal inclusion in seafood: • Monitoring equipment for wear and breakage • Screening products with metal detectors