Bad fish - do you know how to recognize it?

Eating stale fish can cause food poisoning, so it is important to exercise caution when assessing the freshness of the bad fish. Bad fish - do you know how to recognize it.

Bad fish - do you know how to recognize it? Fish is one of the staple foods thanks to its high nutritional value and easy digestibility.

There are many ways to protect and transport fish to keep them fresh longer, but sometimes these methods fail and spoil. Therefore, you need to know how to recognize that you are dealing with something like stale fish.

In fact, distinguishing between fresh and spoiled fish is more complicated than it might seem due to the use of so-called "Enhancers".

This phenomenon is due to the fact that most people want convenience when buying fish, so they want it to be filleted and beheaded. However, filleted fish are usually frozen - which makes it even more difficult for us to verify their freshness.

Bad fish just looks bad

• Odor: Fish in poor condition tends to have an unpleasant odor, are rancid, and sometimes give off an aroma of ammonia.
• Skin: Fish in poor condition have very soft skin that easily detaches from the scales and meat.
• Eyes: stale fish have sunken eyes, creamy corneas, and gray pupils as if they had cataracts.
• Gills: Their gills are located just behind the head; in the case of stale fish, they are yellowed or gray.
• Guts: This is the first zone to break down; fish in poor condition will be swollen or flaccid and sunken.

Fish in good shape

• Smell: Fresh fish smells like seaweed, sea and retains all the nutrients.
• Skin: Contrary to what we said above, fresh fish has a vivid color with hard and shiny scales.
• Eyes: Fresh fish has protruding eyes with black pupils that sparkle.
• Gills: The gills of fresh fish will be pink or red depending on the species, and also clean, clear, and mucus-free.
• Guts: The meat is firm and not slippery.

How to prevent stale fish from ending up on your plate?

So that you don't have to throw away your fish, we recommend that you cook it within a few days of buying it in a supermarket.

If this is not possible, you can freeze the fish. Heat treatment is the only guarantee that the fish will stay fresh for longer. Freezing preserves its properties and prevents the risk of food poisoning.

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• Eating fish a few days after defrosting can be quite risky.
• This is because you are not sure if, for example, there has been a power failure, which would mean the fish has not been frozen properly.

In general, frozen products should not be stored in the refrigerator for more than 2 days after being frozen.

On the other hand, foods should never be re-frozen. If you discover frostbitten fish due to a power outage, the safest option is to throw them away.

Cooling and freezing prevents most bacteria from spreading, but does not kill them. This allows you to speed up the decomposition process. Therefore, if your freezer or refrigerator has stopped working for any reason, it is better to throw away.

Bad fish and water content

To cook a fish, find out where it was stored. See if it has frozen liquid in it or if it is dry. When there is liquid in the bag or container, there may have been some kind of power failure that has defrosted the fish.

If the fish has been properly frozen and the packaging remains dry, you should still make sure that the fish is fresh.

Thaw it, examine it closely and smell it. If it has a normal smell and appearance, it is safe to eat. If not, it is likely that eating it could have unpleasant consequences.

Sea fish should not be eaten on the same day after catching. Dry them well and put them in the fridge first. Bottom line: You can best tell if a fish is fresh when you just taste it.

Only then can you judge its taste. Your taste buds will surely sense that something is wrong! If everything is okay, you can eat it!