I 4 MARCH I APRIL 1993 



By Kathy Hart 



If you want to serve the freshest 

 flounder or cod possible for dinner, 

 then you may want to bypass the 

 fresh seafood counter for the frozen 

 food section. 



What? Bypass that supple white 

 flounder fillet lying atop a bed of ice 

 in the fresh seafood counter for a 

 frosty fillet boxed in the frozen food 

 section? 



Yes. If properly frozen and 

 thawed, that frozen flounder fillet 

 may be superior in flavor, texture 

 and freshness to a "fresh" fish that 

 has passed along the distribution 

 chain, says Joyce Taylor, Sea Grant's 

 seafood consumer agent. 



In some instances, that "fresh" 

 fish has been out of the water five to 

 10 days. It has taken a journey from 

 the fishing vessel to the grocery store 

 that includes stops at the processor/ 

 packing house, distributor and 

 supermarket warehouse. 



However, a good quality frozen 

 fish can be rendered stiff and frosty 

 within hours of hoisting it from the 

 water. And even better, some fish 

 and shellfish are frozen almost 

 immediately upon harvest onboard 

 the fishing vessel. 



By freezing freshly caught 

 seafood in prime condition and 

 holding it at very cold temperatures, 

 processors can lock in the high 

 quality that consumers demand. In 

 fact, much of the raw fish dished up 

 in Japan's popular sushi bars has 

 been previously frozen. But most 

 people assume it is fresh because of 

 its impeccable quality. 



Likewise, some fish and shellfish 

 sold in supermarket counters and 

 seafood displays have been previ- 

 ously frozen and thawed by grocers. 

 It is placed alongside fresh product, 

 and often consumers are never the 

 wiser. 



Many retailers may not label the 

 fish as previously frozen or volunteer 



this information unless asked 

 because frozen fish has such a poor 

 image in the minds of consumers. 



For years, some processors, 

 distributors and retailers resorted to 

 freezing fish and shellfish that didn't 

 sell on the "fresh" market, and often 

 that seafood teetered on the verge 

 of spoilage. Freezing of marginal 

 quality fish offered one last opportu- 

 nity for distributors to recoup their 

 costs and sell their products to 

 consumers. 



But that practice backfired. 

 Consumers caught on, and frozen 

 seafood lost favor. 



A good quality frozen 

 fish can be rendered 

 stiff and frosty within 

 hours of hoisting it 

 from the water. 



Then came the 1980s, the decade 

 of "freshness." 



Supermarket chains hurried to 

 install fresh seafood counters, where 

 mounds of shellfish, layers of fish 

 fillets and stacks of seafood steaks 

 were laid out on beds of chipped ice 

 and adorned with parsley and 

 lemons. 



"There was a fresh hysteria in the 

 mid-1980s," says Tyre Lanier, a Sea 

 Grant researcher in the N.C. State 

 University food science department. 

 "The airlines promised to deliver 

 fresh fish anywhere in the country in 

 a matter of hours. And they could. 

 But they squashed any effort to 

 promote frozen seafood, which in 

 my opinion is a more sane way to 

 handle fish and shellfish." 



But just because the only frozen 

 seafood bought directly by consum- 

 ers was breaded fish sticks and 



