Andrew Strak (abstrak@accesswave.ca)
Mon, 24 Jan 2000 20:07:50 -0400
The issue is that nobody would buy yellow haddock fillets. And even the
regulatory bodies would object to the colour. Therefore that kind of
discolouration is considered at present a defect and loss to the processor.
Andrew Strak
----- Original Message -----
From: J. (Jan) A.M. Verhoeven <jan.verhoeven@foodfocus.nl>
To: <phowgate@rsc.co.uk>; 'Seafood List' <seafood@ucdavis.edu>;
<abstrak@accesswave.ca>
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2000 6:56 PM
Subject: Re: Haddock Flesh Discolouration
>
> Hello,
>
> I am in the process of compiling a publication about permitted food
> color additives and came across the following. Maybe it is of help:
>
> In the EU, like in USA, carotenes are permitted as food colors:
> E-no. 160a(i): mixtures of carotenes. One of the permitted mixtures
> is derived from algae, i.c. Dunaliella salina. These mixtures contain
> (according to the "annex" of the legislation covering the purity of
> the permitted colors): alpha- and beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin
> and beta-criptoxanthin.
>
> Zeaxanthin occurs in the publication mentioned by Andrew Strak.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Jan
> visit my restyled site (also in English):
> http://www.foodfocus.nl
>
>
> On 23 Jan 00, at 20:54, Andrew Strak wrote:
>
> > Peter,
> >
> > Thank you for your insight. The fish was from the Barents Sea (unknown
> > exact location, though). In the meantime I have come across one old
> > paper by E.G. Bligh and W.J. Dyer 'Orange-red Flesh in Cod and
> > Haddock" - J.Fish.Res.Bd. Canada, 16(4), 1959 not probably listed in
> > any database anymore. Astaxanthin and zeaxanthin in the proportion of
> > 2:1 were found to be responsible for the pigmentation of the flesh of
> > Cod. Zeaxanthin was the only pigment detected in the flesh of a
> > similarly pigmented haddock. Therefore concerning the carotenoid
> > identification you are probably right on the point. What strange is
> > that the colour intensity seems to be increasing with the time in
> > frozen storage. And the incidence of the number of fish affected by
> > the phenomenum in this case is also pretty high (5%), unlike your
> > experience or reported by Blight and Dyer. Apparently there must some
> > cargo ship carrying corn went down recently :-).
> >
> > Andrew Strak
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: howgate <phowgate@rsc.co.uk>
> > To: <abstrak@accesswave.ca>; 'Seafood List' <seafood@ucdavis.edu>
> > Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2000 5:36 PM Subject: Re: Haddock Flesh
> > Discolouration
> >
> >
> > > Andrew
> > >
> > > On 21 January you showed two pictures of haddock, one discoloured. I
> > assume
> > > you were referring to the bright yellow fillet.
> > >
> > > Carotenoids can be taken up from the diet of animals and can colour
> > > the flesh. A common example, in the USA at least, is the yellow
> > > colour of corn-fed chickens. I assume this is due to the carotenoid,
> > > zeaxanthin,
> > that
> > > imparts the yellow colour to corn. Nearer to home, the pink colour
> > > of salmon, in the wild, is due predominately to the carotenoid
> > > astaxanthin, and other carotenoids in minor amounts, from crustacea
> > > in the diet. I can only write from experience of haddock landed in
> > > Britain. I have come across light pink colouration in haddock, and
> > > in cod, which is assumed to come from crustacea in the diet, but I
> > > have not come across the yellow colour shown in your picture. A
> > > number of carotenoids other than the pink astaxanthin and
> > > canthaxanthin are found in marine animals. Polychaete
> > worms
> > > are sources of a variety of carotenoids and, as I recollect, are
> > > described in: Simpson K.L. Katayama T. Chichester C.O., 1981,
> > > Carotenoids in fish feeds. In: Carotenoids as Colorants and Vitamin
> > > A Precursors, J.C. Bauernfeind, ed., Academic press, New York, pp
> > > 463-534. I write
> > 'recollect'
> > > because I do not have a copy of this chapter, but I consulted the
> > > book in one of the academic libraries in Aberdeen and I no longer
> > > live in that city). Chemical analysis - not too difficult - will be
> > > able to identify if the colour is a carotenoid, and its nature.
> > >
> > > Let me put forward as a hypothesis that the haddock in question have
> > > been feeding on polychaete worms that contain a yellow carotenoid.
> > > If you know the catching ground of the haddock, you might be able to
> > > confirm from a marine laboratory if polychaete worms are likely to
> > > be an item of the haddock diet. Unless they had been feeding on
> > > corn!
> > >
> > > Given the known free-radical scavenging properties of carotenoids,
> > > and the benefits to health of carotenoids in the diet, the yellow
> > > colour should perhaps be seen as a benefit, not a defect.
> > >
> > > Peter Howgate
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
> ____________________________________________
> Ing. J.(Jan) A.M. Verhoeven, director of:
> Foodfocus, consultancy- & service bureau food: technology and quality
assurance
> De Volder 32, NL-5283 ZD BOXTEL, The Netherlands
> tel +31 411 67 56 39 fax +31 411 67 11 56
> E-mail info@foodfocus.nl
> http://www.foodfocus.nl
>
>
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