jedrus1a
07.10.04, 06:18
By JULIA MOSKIN
Published: October 6, 2004
Kupujący świeżego tuńczyka, nie ma znaczenia czy w małym sklepie-barze np.
suszi czy w supermarkiecie, mięso wygląda wiśniowo-czerwone aby wytworzyć
impresje że ww. ryba jest najwyższej jakości. Ale jest najbardziej
prawdopodobne że ww. super czerwone mięso ryby zostało potraktowane tlenkiem
węgla (czad) CO.
Zobacz:
www.nytimes.com/2004/10/06/dining/06TUNA.html?oref=login&oref=login&hp
BUYERS of fresh tuna, whether at the sushi bar or the supermarket, often look
for cherry-red flesh to tell them that the fish is top-quality. But it has
become increasingly likely that the fish is bright red because it has been
sprayed with carbon monoxide.
The global seafood trade has expanded so much over the last decade that tuna,
once a seasonal delicacy, is available year-round. But getting it to
consumers while it still looks fresh is difficult. Tuna quickly turns an
unappetizing brown (or chocolate, as it is called in the industry), whether
it is fresh or conventionally frozen and thawed.
Carbon monoxide, a gas that is also a component of wood smoke, prevents the
flesh from discoloring. It can even turn chocolate tuna red, according to
some who have seen the process.
People in the seafood industry estimate that 25 million pounds of treated
tuna, about 30 percent of total tuna imports, were brought into the United
States last year, mostly from processors in Southeast Asia. Retailers in the
United States buy it already treated.
The Food and Drug Administration says the process is harmless. But Japan,
Canada and the countries of the European Union have banned the practice
because of fears that it could be used to mask spoiled fish.
Carbon monoxide preserves only the color of the fish, not its quality.
Suppliers and retailers who use the treated fish say the process allows them
to sell high-quality, flash-frozen fish that still looks good enough to eat.
Jerry Bocchino, an owner of Pescatore, a fish store in Grand Central Market
in New York, said that his sales of tuna have tripled since he switched to
the treated kind two months ago.
"With fresh tuna, you're always racing the clock to keep the color and keep
it from spoiling," Mr. Bocchino said. "And once it turns brown, no one wants
to buy it. People love the color of this stuff."
Tim Lauer, a seafood dealer in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, said that most
sushi bars and supermarkets there have switched to the product since it was
introduced in the late 1990's. "I've lost all my sushi customers for tuna,
since I won't sell it," he said.
Just because a slice of tuna is brown, it does not mean it is not fresh. And
other factors determine the color, including the fat content, species and
cut. The finest fresh bluefin, which sells for up to $40 a pound at Tokyo's
wholesale fish markets, is not a deep red but a pale pink because of the fine
web of white fat that permeates the red flesh. Top-quality toro is often a
brownish red.
But for most consumers around the world, vendors say, lollipop-red flesh
signals freshness and quality. Tuna treated with carbon monoxide is bright
red when first defrosted, and fades within a couple of days to a watermelon
pink. But "you could put it in the trunk of your car for a year, and it
wouldn't turn brown," said one sales representative at Anova Foods, a
distributor in Atlanta, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The use of carbon monoxide in food is hardly new, as any barbecue or smoked
salmon fan should know. (Wood smoke contains carbon monoxide.) But the gas
used by many overseas producers, although tasteless, is more concentrated; it
can be as much as 100 percent carbon monoxide, said Bill Kowalski, an owner
of Hawaii International Seafood.
American processors like Hawaii International and Anova Foods are racing to
market their own versions of the technology, using wood smoke that is
filtered to remove the elements that make food taste smoky. These processors
use lower concentrations of the gas and tag their product with trademarked
names like Tasteless Smoke, Clearsmoke and Crystal Fresh.
Opinion about carbon-monoxide-treated tuna is sharply divided, and
illustrates the complex issues that consumers have to wade through at the
fish market.
To supporters like Mr. Bocchino, Mr. Kowalski and Dr. Steve Otwell, a
researcher at the University of Florida, carbon monoxide treatment is an
important advance in food safety that accommodates the realities of the
marketplace. Instead of fresh tuna that is likely to spoil quickly, they
reason, consumers get a high-quality frozen product that can be transported
safely, thawed when needed, and keep its fresh look. "The industry scrambles
to get fresh tuna to market, but the reality is that by the time a long-line
Pacific tuna makes it to an American supermarket, it could be as much as 30
days out of the water," Dr. Otwell said. "That's much more of a health risk
than treated tuna, as long as the raw material is good and the treatment is
controlled."
Roman Choudhury, the manager of two sushi restaurants in Manhattan, buys
treated tuna when he cannot get it fresh, particularly for tuna rolls. "At my
price point, it's almost impossible to have a steady supply of fresh tuna,"
he said. "And people always, always want tekka maki."
Detractors call the process risky and dishonest. "There's no reason to do
this other than to deceive the consumer," Mr. Lauer said. "There are natural
solutions to the problem of browning."
One is ultra-low-temperature freezing, which keeps tuna at about 80 degrees
below zero for months or even years without browning. But maintaining such
low temperatures during the long trip from boat to plate is a very expensive
proposition.
Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the
Public Interest, a nutrition advocacy group, said, "Anything that masks the
true age of a piece of fish is a public safety risk."
As tuna ages, it becomes more likely to cause scombrotoxin poisoning, which
is rarely severe or fatal. It is the most common form of food poisoning from
seafood in the United States, the Center said.
The F.D.A. has put carbon-monoxide-treated tuna on its list of substances
generally regarded as safe. The agency permits its use to preserve the color
of fresh tuna, not to enhance brown tuna, and requires stores to label
treated fish. But they often do not.
What does all this mean at the market? Any tuna that is hot pink has probably
been treated with carbon monoxide. Tuna that is bright red may be extremely
fresh, and therefore very expensive, or may have been treated with the gas.
"Outside of Hawaii bright red tuna that is selling for less than $12 a pound
is probably treated," Mr. Lauer said. "On the other hand, there's nothing to
stop people from selling treated tuna for $20 a pound if they can get away
with it."
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