Peter,
The product you have before you is the traditional anchovy pack and it
is not totally shelf stable. It is preserved by high salt content alone.
This means that bacterial growth will not take place but enzymes remain
active. At room temperature spoilage can be expected after about 12
months. Fillets will gradually turn reddish and mushy and as spoilage
proceeds both gas and histamine formation will occur, resulting in
swollen or exploding cans and possible histamine poisoning. As a
consumer, even for many years, especially one who "scoffs" the product
within a day or two it is unlikely you would ever observe this spoilage.
Speaking as a distributor with over 20 years experience in both Canada
(where this product is kept refrigerated) and the U.S. (where it is not)
I can tell you that the product is problem free in Canada, but spoilage
issues occur with monotonous regularity in the U.S.
Fred
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu] On
Behalf Of P Howgate
Sent: July 20, 2007 3:29 AM
To: seafood@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Re: 'canned' Anchovy - shelf stable or must refrigerate?
Christian does not tell us where 'here' is - see Pam's recent message
about
not being able to deduce the country of origin from the e-mail address -
but
I see from an Internet search that it seems to be Canada. I live in
Britain
and I have in front of me a can of 'Anchovy fillets in olive oil', net
wt.
50g, drained wt. 35g product of Morocco. They are made in other
Mediterranean countries other than Morocco - I have seen the process
underway in Spain - and in South America. The product is very salty, but
I
like them despite the current nutrition police campaign to reduce salt
in
the diet, and is the product presumably of 14% salt concentration
already
mentioned in this thread and defined in the Multilingual Dictionary of
Fish
and Fish Products as: 'headless gutted or whole ungutted anchovies
packed in
salt in barrels and allowed to ripen for about four months at
temperatures
up to 30degCuntil the flesh has reddened right through: as
semipreserves,
sold whole, filleted in oil or sauce, flat or rolled with or without
capers;
packed in cans, glass jars etc. ... '. If what you are selling in Canada
is
this product then it is shelf stable and need not be held under
refrigeration. I see the 'best before end' date on the can I have is Nov
2008, and the product is sold on the open shelves in shops here in
Britain.
In all the many years I have been buying this product I have never seen
it
offered other than on open shelves. Delicatessen shops and delicatessen
counters in supermarkets sell a marinated anchovy fillet product which
seems
to come from Italy judging from the type of shop that sells it. Judging
from
the taste it is only lightly salted and I assume it is predominately the
vinegar that exerts some preservative action. It is intended as an
antipasto
ingredient. Because this product is sold loose - at least at retail
level -
and not prepackaged I have not seen a shelflife date or advice on
storage
for it. I don't expect it to have a long shelf life and I hold it in the
refrigerator at home, but we have usually scoffed within a day or two
anyway. These marinated fillets are available in jars or plastics
containers
from mail order companies and would then be labelled with a shelflife
date,
but I have never bought any this way so can not tell you what it is. May
Italian recipes ask for preserved anchovies, e.g. spaghetti alla
putanesca,
but it is never clear if they mean the hard salted, ripened product, or
the
marinaded one, though I tend towards the former. Can any Italian reader
clarify for me?
Best wishes
Peter Howgate
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christian Vogl" <cvogl@shafer-haggart.com>
To: <seafood@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 10:11 PM
Subject: 'canned' Anchovy - shelf stable or must refrigerate?
We have a customer in Australia who tells us that anchovy in cans
(packed in oil) are sold 'shelf stable' there.
Here, we refrigerate them.
It was always my understand that this was required because of the lack
of thermal processing. But if this is the case, how can Australian
stores market them on the shelves instead of the cooler?
Any thoughts appreciated!
Best regards,
Christian
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