A preliminary study on the keeping quality of locally produced marine and freshwater salted dried fish

Experiments were conducted on the storage life of salted dried fish from both freshwater and marine species. It was found that the storage life of salted dried products from the 2 freshwater species tested (Ompok bimaculatus and Labeo dussumieri) is much longer than that of the 2 marine species (Gonialosa manminna and Chorinemus lysan), i.e., 51 days

Increase of storage shelf life of locally produced salted/dried fish by redrying and/or packeting

Experiments were undertaken to prolong the storage life of salted/dried fish by re-drying and/or packing. The storage life under normal conditions is 51 days; re-drying the fish at 50°C for 12 hours extends the storage life only by 7 days. However, re-drying and packing gizzard shad (Gonialosa manminna ) in polyethylene maintains the fish in excellent conditions for well over 87 days. The use of air tight bags for storing good quality salted dried fish is recommended

Keeping quality of imported dried fish

All imported salted, dried fish samples tested had a salt content below 30% and above 12% and hence met requirements of the proposed standard. Also samples without quality cut tested had a greater salt content than that with quality cut. This indicates that salt contributes to protecting dried fish and hence may be endorsed by sensory evaluation to a certain extent. Samples with quality cut had more moisture than that without quality cut. But all samples with and without quality cut had a moisture content greater than 35% which is the maximum moisture content for such species specified in the standard. Microbiological testing for total counts and Coliform contents too showed that good quality dried fish had counts greater than that specified in the standard. The different species of fish tested had varying lengths of shelf life. But on an average the shelf life of dried fish could be prolonged for about 12 days by re-drying at 45°C for 6 hours, i.e., re-drying at these temperatures without subsequent packing in polythene bags may not be practical for prolonging the storage life of salted/dried fish

A survey of process hygiene in the Sri Lankan prawn industry. 2. The hygiene status of personnel

Of 262 personnel tested, 137 (52%) were found to be positive for Staphylococcus aureus. Among individual companies the prevalence of S. aureus ranged from 92% (Company No. 1) to 22% (Company No. 2). Although five companies provided a sanitiser hand-dip, this was found to be ineffective for the control of S. aureus. Provision of hand-washing facilities, of protective clothing and of toilet facilities was found to be inadequate for an export food industry

A survey of process hygiene in the Sri Lankan prawn industry. 1. Hygiene status of raw materials and products

A survey of processing hygiene in the Sri Lankan prawn industry has shown that the incoming raw material has extremely high bacterial loadings; about 50% of samples analysed had a total count in excess of 10,000,000/g. Although beheading reduces the count, ineffective temperature control during processing means that the final total count of raw, shell-on, P.U.D. and P.A.D. prawns, as well as cooked prawns, is in excess of 1,000,000/g. - the maximum level specified by many importing countries

A survey of process hygiene in the Sri Lankan prawn industry. 3. Critical control points

Of fifteen processing plants surveyed in Sri Lanka, only five were found to have a prawn process which was adequately controlled. Most common process faults were: inadequate chilling of prawns after a wash in 30°C, mains water, the use of large blocks of ice to cool prawns, and high ratios of prawns to ice. There was also ample scope for cross-contamination of the processed prawns