FOOD ALERT CONCERNING CARBON MONOXIDE TREATMENT - 28/08/2006
Chemical Control laboratory is able to perform the quantitative analytical determination of carbon monoxide in foods (meat, fish) by means of HS/GC-TCD instrumental technique.
European Commission Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) continues to notify the carbon monoxide treatment of fishes such as tuna and also swordfish.
This kind of treatment is forbidden in the European Union.
Carbon monoxide treatment is performed in order to improve meat preservation, because it's bacteriostatic and so it inhibits bacterial multiplication, which is responsible of product decay and high production of histamine.
This process, together with freezing and smoking processes, in a kind of coordinate manufacturing process, magnify some qualitative characteristics of the product, such as the red colour for tuna.
As regards natural colour of tuna, in its muscle tissue a pigment, which is myoglobin, absorbs and reacts with oxygen to form oxymyoglobin, responsible of the bright red colour. During the time, because of oxidation processes, oxymyoglobin converts to metamyoglobin, whose brown or dark brown colour is not appreciated by consumers.
Treatment with carbon monoxide – which reacts with hemoglobin (if present because the animal has been badly bled) but mainly with myoglobin present in the muscle tissue (producing carboxyhemoglobin and carboxymyoglobin, respectively) – gives to tuna cuts a bright red colour (see pictures 1 and 2).
The product which has been treated with carbon monoxide could be a risk for the consumers because the colour could mislead consumers into thinking that it is fresher or of higher value than it actually is. Moreover it seems that CO-treated product doesn't develop remarkable odours in order to attract attention of consumers.
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1. NOT TREATED TUNA |
2. CO-TREATED TUMA |
Referring to the topic above specified, Chemical Control laboratory is able to support the customer in the quantitative analytical determination of carbon monoxide in foods (meat, fish) by means of HS/GC-TCD instrumental technique.
For further information please contact:
CUSTOMER SERVICE
CANTAMESSA dr. Liliana
Tel: +39 0171 417452
