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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires all seafood dealers and processors that sell histamine-forming fish to follow strict monitoring and control procedures to prevent the development of histamine. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a food safety program dealers and processors use to protect their seafood against bacterial, chemical or physical hazards that could harm consumers.
To comply with HACCP, dealers first evaluate both their seafood and their processing operations to determine where they are most vulnerable to food safety hazards.
Next, processors identify as critical control points (CCPs) the characteristics of their seafood and the steps in their manufacturing process where they can apply specific controls to prevent, eliminate or minimize risk of food safety hazards. Typical manufacturing CCPs are receiving, cooking, cooling or storing seafood.
Dealers then establish maximum or minimum boundaries, called critical limits, at a CCP to ensure safe products are produced. Time and temperature limits or rapid chemical tests help monitor CCPs. For instance, the maximum storage temperature at which histamine can be prevented is 400F.
Processors must implement corrective actions whenever monitoring shows that a CCP critical limits have been violated. If a cooler fails, for example, a dealer could ice fish to keep it cold or move it to another cooler.
All monitoring activities must be documented on paper, and records are reviewed weekly by a HACCP-trained individual.
All wholesale seafood dealers and processors are subject to the HACCP regulation. Cooperation of the commercial fishing industry is vital to ensure that domestic seafood is safe and that the HACCP seafood safety program succeeds.
Summary of FDA's Time-Temperature Guidance to Prevent Scombrotoxin on Fishing Vessels
The following flowchart and table summarizes current FDA guidance for maximum time limits for vessels to chill their fish to prevent scombrotoxin. However, all fish should be chilled as soon as possible after harvest to maintain quality and ensure safety. Rapid cooling should continue until the internal temperature reaches 40 oF or below, and fish temperature should be maintained below 40 oF during storage and distribution until eaten by the consumer.
Chilling Method
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All histamine fish
less than 20 pounds
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All histamine fish when
water or air temperature
is 83oF or higher
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Tuna > 20 pounds &
gutted on the vessel
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Tuna > 20 pounds &
not gutted on the vessel
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Ice
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Ice fish not later than 12 hours after death
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Ice fish not later than 6 hours after death
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Ice fish when not later than 6 hours after dead
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Cool to internal temperature of 50oF in 6 hours*
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Ice Slurry or RSW at 40oF
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Put fish in slurry or RSW not later than 12 hours after death
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Put fish in slurry or RSW not later than 6 hours after death
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Put fish in slurry or RSW not later than 6 hours after death
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Cool to internal temperature of 50oF in 6 hours*
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Ice Slurry or RSW at 50oF
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Put fish in slurry or RSW not later than 9 hours after death
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Use slurry or RSW at 40oF or below
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Use slurry or RSW at 40oF or below
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Use slurry or RSW at 40oF or below
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* It may not be possible to cool large, ungutted fish to 50 o F in 6 hours using ice, slurries, or RSW.
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