How to Select Seafood

Things to Look For

A Guide to Buying Fresh Seafood

Protein and vital nutrients can be found in seafood. A sensible diet that includes shellfish and fish can be a factor in a healthy heart. With all the benefits of fish, it’s important for fish to be handled and cleaned properly to avoid any possibility of food poisoning.

Here are some tips to buying fresh seafood:

• You want to only purchase fish that is sitting on fresh ice or is refrigerated. You also want to make sure that the ice is not melting.
• Smell your fish. If it has a sour, fishy or ammonia scent to it, it is not fresh. Fish that is fresh will only have a mild scent.
• Pay attention to the eyes of the fish; the eyes will bulge slightly and need to be clear.
• There should not be a milky shine on gills or flesh. The gills should be a bright red and the flesh should be shiny.
• When you put pressure on the skin of the fish, it should bounce back.
• When inspecting fillets, check around the edges. There should be no signs of drying, staining, bruising or darkening.
• If you are purchasing shrimp, the flesh should have minimal to no odor and the flesh should be shiny and transparent.
• When you are looking at getting shellfish, check for tags or labels on the containers, sacks or packages. These tags and labels will provide you with crucial information that will let you know when the shellfish were gathered and collected and if it was handled according to the national safety controls.
• Throw away broken or cracked shellfish.
• Check for signs of life. On shellfish, tap the shells to see if they are alive. If they are alive, they will close their shell. If there is no reaction, do not choose them. In lobsters and crabs, they should have some sort of movement. As crabs and lobsters spoil quickly after they die, it is crucial that they be picked and cooked alive.

Article by Rose Manning of Ozio Media