Always Purchase Seafood From A Registered Seafood Supplier

 Australians have a big appetite for seafood, consuming roughly 345,000 tonnes of edible seafood products per year. Seafood, such as fish and shellfish, are good sources of protein, Omega-3 fatty acids and other essential nutrients that make it a healthy choice as part of a balanced diet.  However, as with any other type of food, it’s important to handle seafood safely to prevent food-borne illness. It’s especially important if you work in a restaurant, food retail business, child or aged care facility or any other business or organization that serves food to the public.  To protect the people you serve from food-borne illness, follow these safe handling tips for buying, storing and preparing fish and shellfish.

 

How to buy seafood:

 

FISH:

Always purchase seafood from a registered seafood supplier and check that it is fresh, shows no signs of spoilage and is displayed or delivered at a safe temperature (5°C or below).  When buying or accepting a fish delivery, check to ensure that:  it smells fresh and mild its eyes are clear and shiny the flesh is firm and springs back when pressed it doesn't have any strong odors (“fishy”, sour or rancid) it isn't discolored, dark or dry around the edges Note: Fresh fish and fish filets sold as “previously frozen” may not have all the characteristics of fresh fish, but they should still smell fresh and mild. Reject any previously frozen fish that smells fishy, sour or rancid.

 

SHELLFISH:

Never buy or prepare dead shellfish. Shellfish spoil rapidly after death, which increases the risk of microbial contamination, food poisoning, infectious diseases and other health problems.  When selecting shellfish, be sure to do the following:  Discard cracked or broken bivalves — throw away clams, oysters, and mussels if their shells are cracked or broken. If shells are open, do a “tap test” — live clams, oysters, and mussels will close when the shell is tapped. Check for leg movement — live crabs and lobsters should show some leg movement.

 

How to store seafood Store seafood:

 

In the refrigerator at 5°C or below in the freezer at -15°C or below If your business keeps live seafood in tanks, make sure the tanks are well-maintained and aerated. Fill them with clean water, suitable for the type of fish being stored — never mix saltwater and freshwater fish in the same tank! — and remove any dead fish or shellfish from the tanks immediately.  Remember that shellfish is a common food allergen, so keep them in the original containers in which they were delivered, well away from other types of food to prevent cross-contamination (more on that later).  Use fresh seafood within two days — and don’t just store your frozen seafood and forget about it! Freezer burned fish might not be a safety hazard, but the texture and taste is unlikely to impress your customers.

 

Freezing seafood can kill parasites, but won’t kill all harmful bacteria, so cooking is always the safest way to serve seafood. Vulnerable customers — including pregnant women, children, the elderly and people with impaired immune systems — are particularly at risk of food-borne illness and should avoid raw seafood.

As you walk around, especially if you get there earlier in the morning (before 11am), you quickly realize that Casula Seafood Wholesalers Australia is a bona-fide fish market, in that it is the city’s wholesale (i.e. bulk sales) hub for products to restaurants, and other businesses, as well as offering retail sales (small sales) to the public.