From Catch to Consumer: How Spectrophotometry Safeguards Quality in the Fisheries Industry

Why is spectrophotometry important in the fisheries sector and how does it benefit food control and safety? The Department of Comparative Biomedicine at the University of Padua - FOOD HUB sheds light on this topic.

In the fisheries sector, meeting consumer and control authority requirements is crucial, focusing on product authenticity, proper storage conditions, and traceability. To ensure fish products are suitable for human consumption, they must meet specific legal criteria.

These criteria include compliance with hygiene standards, mandatory labeling, and specific information such as commercial name, species, fishing zone, production method, fishing gear category, physical state of the product, and minimum shelf life for packaged items.

Spectrophotometry, particularly near-infrared (NIR) spectrophotometry, offers a reliable and widely applied approach to verify the information provided on labels at points of sale and throughout the fish supply chain.

Accurate product identification is vital in detecting commercial fraud, such as species substitution or the sale of thawed products labeled as fresh. Spectrophotometric applications in the visible-near infrared (VIS-NIR) range have demonstrated high accuracy in identifying fish species for processed or semi-processed products, as well as distinguishing between fresh and thawed products and their geographical origin.

Excitingly, VIS-NIR technology also shows promise in determining the shelf life of fish products. It enables accurate measurement of storage days, evaluation of organoleptic aspects related to freshness, and identification of indicators related to product deterioration.

We express our gratitude to Luca Fasolato, Stefania Balzan, Sarah Currò, and Lorenzo Serva for their continuous research and application of VIS/NIR systems in food safety. Their valuable contributions have been extensively covered in the FOODHUB magazine, specifically in the August 2020 edition, issue number 7.