Fresh or Frozen, you choose!

In the Tsukiji in the auction area we were late and the auctions were already finished. Watching the frozen tuna’s tail hacked open, it looks like an operation gone wrong.

Now compare and see the tail of fresh tuna and it all becomes another story. Here we can imagine the quality, the intensity of color and grading such tuna is considerably more easy. We know redness is important in the assessment of sashimi grade tuna. So they express these numbers as a ratio of red to the other colors when grading.

Many people have no clue about the level of complexity involved in fishing tuna, and management of the tuna during the catch and after. Temperature, from the point of euthanasia, through distribution, and during storage affects not only the microbiological status of seafood products but also its bio-chemical and physical structure.

It is therefore necessary to manage the cold chain as effectively as possible to ensure premium quality seafood remains that way by the time it is on the boat all the way to the auction floor when purchasing decisions are being made.

Often time-temperature recording data loggers are used inside or alongside the product, the time-temperature profiles of a shipment can be monitored from the point of capture to the point of sale. This helps to ensure that the cold-chain is being managed effectively by processors and freight handlers insure that the freshest quality product is delivered.

Tsukiji wholesale fish market is the largest fish market in the world where product is assessed and sold via auction and or directly. Central to this are the seven major wholesaling companies that present product to the many intermediary wholesalers of the market. Within these companies are quality experts working in divisions separated by species. It is these experts that can provide quality seafood.