Jon,
Japan is in the same situation. I asked my friend, Professor Kunihiko Konno at Hokkaido University in Hokkaido, northern part of Japan, where Japanese major fishery resarch is going on. Here, I pasted his comment on my inquiry.
There is no definition of "sashimi grade" in Japan. I have not heard of the name "Sashimi grade" in Japan. Official regulation on sashimi grade such as "freezing is essential for sashimi grade" is not true for Japan. So the quality of fresh fish meat is judged by the distributors or by the consumers by themselves in Japan. You wrote the regulation of sashimi grade regulation in USA. Japanese rather prefers unfrozen fish meat as sashimi to frozen one. Tuna meat is mainly distributed in a frozen state, but fresh one is much more expensive, and is accepted as better quality one by the consumer. I might say that majority of Sashimi consumed in Japan is unfrozen ones.
The conclusion is that quality of raw fish meat as Sashimi is never be controlled officially. If trouble happened such as food poisoning, the responsibility is usually on the distributor. So the distributors are very careful whether the raw fish meat could be consumed as Sashimi. If the freshness is not enough for Sashimi, the distributors give discount price recommending to eat it after heating. No regulation on the quality of Sashimi might be due to long history of sashimi consumption in Japan.
Regulation would be functional in countries where the consumers (or ditributors) cannot judge whether the fish meat is suitable for sashimi. Eating Sashimi in Korea is always eating live fish; absolute evidence of the freshness. So, sashimi grade in Korea would be "Live fish". I am not sure about the situation in China. Your country would make your own rule on the Sashimi grade considering the situation.
This was Professor Konno's comment on my question.
Kim, Jin Moon
Professor
School of Food science and Technology
Southern Yangtze University
Wuxi, Jiang Province
China
jmkim@sytu.edu.cn jinmoonkim01@yahoo.com
Jon McGraw <JonMcGraw@seafreeze.com> wrote:
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } Hello,
Cannot answer the original question and I suspect "sashimi" means different things to different people. It not only refers to best of the best as far as intrinsic and extrinsic quality but then may only apply to certain parts of a particular fish or seafood product. The real answer has to come from Japan. Perhaps they have codified the term.
In the US it seems to be used rather cavalierly and I see product presented as "sashimi" grade because that's what the producer/seller wants to/needs to/prefers to call it. It's worth more money. Much of what I see certainly is not. The proof is in the pudding, you will know it when you eat it.
Freezing procedures for parasite control for products to be eaten raw can be found in the:
FDA Fish and Fisheries Products Hazards and Control Guide (3rd edition)
Chapter 5 Parasites
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/haccp4e.html
Freezing and storing at -4°F (-20°C) or below for 7 days (total time), or freezing at -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at -31°F (-35°C) or below for 15 hours, or freezing at -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at -4°F (-20°C) or below for 24 hours is sufficient to kill parasites. FDA's Food Code recommends these freezing conditions to retailers who provide fish intended for raw consumption.
Note this is for PARASITE control and has little if any effect on the sanitary properties of the product. If it was sanitary before, it still will be, if it wasn't it won't be.
Regards
Jon McGraw
Seafreeze
Seattle
---------------------------------
From: Robert Greer [mailto:greer@rushmartrading.com]
Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2006 8:52 PM
To: 'Janani Tulasendrapuram'; seafood@ucdavis.edu
Subject: RE: sashimi question
Interestingly, I've spent a not inconsiderable amount of time in the past month or two trying to find out the answer to this exact same question. I have come up with several different answers, so I think the "official" definition depends on whom you're talking to.
Initially, I researched this question on the website of the United States FDA. There are some regs and guidance about qualifying certain types of fish as sashimi grade, but as best I could tell, they relate only to fresh water species which have different and more potential biological hazards than salt water specices. If memory serves, these regs require freezing the fish below specified temperatures for specified periods of time in order to insure that product that will be eaten uncooked is sanitary.
Secondly, I inquired of my sister-in-law, who is a salesman for a fresh fish distributor which sells to premium restaurants. Her response was that sashimi refers to the very highest quality fish: "the best of the best."
Lastly, I met only the other day with a supplier of seafood (wild caught ocean fish) in Vietnam. This company labels as "sashimi" grade, fish that once caught is immediately frozen on board at or below minus 55 degrees Celsius and kept at such low temperatures continuously.
It's my suspicion that the second and third definitions are essentially equivalent, though on their face, they seem to describe different things.
If I learn any more about this, I'll let you know.
Sincerely,
Robert Greer
Robert Greer
Rushmar Trading Company LLC
Tel (US): 1-713-350-6025
Mobile (US): 1-713-594-4996
Mobile (VN): 84-(0)90-966-7379
EFax: 1-713-583-9667
email: greer@RushmarTrading.com
---------------------------------
From: owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu] On Behalf Of Janani Tulasendrapuram
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 10:17 PM
To: seafood@ucdavis.edu
Subject: sashimi question
Hi,
Good morning! I am hoping someone on this listserv will be able to answer the following question:
-Is there an "official" definition of sashimi grade (mainly for tuna)?
Thanks,
Janani Tulasendrapuram
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