Much of the tuna imported to both Japan and the United States, particularly yellowfin, is sourced from Indonesia. Jerry Knecht, president and founder of both North Atlantic, Inc. – headquartered in Portland, Maine, U.S.A. – and P.T. Bali Seafood International – headquartered in Bali, Indonesia – told SeafoodSource that the massive recall in early September by Kroger of tuna products due to high histamine levels can be traced to poor hygiene in Indonesia.
“Much of the tuna coming out of Indonesia is being loined at sea on small boats. The practice started in the Banda Sea area about five years ago, when the tuna ran hard and the small boats wanted to maximize their catch. They cut the loins on dirty wooden decks then, in some cases, hold them in questionable conditions in plastic bags. Often times they leave skin on one side so the processors who finish process them can meet the BRC standard of performing initial processing under sanitary conditions,” he said.
British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standards specify what is required by organizations to create vetted products that are safe, legal, and of high quality. The standards also provide assurances to consumers.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advised that Kroger yellowfin tuna steaks were the cause of scombroid poisoning, which is caused by eating fish that has not been properly refrigerated or preserved and therefore contains high levels of histamine. Scombroid symptoms usually develop within a few minutes to an hour after eating contaminated fish. They usually resemble an allergic reaction, such as flushing of the face, headache, heart palpitations, itching, blurred vision, cramps, and diarrhea.
“High temperatures and poor icing causes histamine production, which cannot be washed off as it is internal. Dirty cutting surfaces cause salmonella, which is extremely difficult to control, as 99 percent of all disinfectants don’t kill it,” Knecht explained.
Knecht said similar practices resulted in at least 62 cases of salmonella poisoning from eating tuna imported to the U.S. by Osamu Corp. of Gardena, California in 2015.
“We have been waiting for the second catastrophic health scare since the Osamu incident. Most U.S. buyers don’t have visibility into the raw material product form, so [they] are operating blind. The next potentially high-risk company is Fair Trade. Their suppliers are using loined-at-sea raw material. We have had this conversation with them multiple times. They don’t seem to want to know,” he said.
Knecht’s account was seemingly corroborated by a Baily Lab @ Marine Affairs article, “Taking stock of improvement efforts in Indonesian handline tuna fisheries.”
“…Interestingly, tuna is loined at sea in this fishery as the boat itself is not large enough to store an icebox suitable for a whole tuna,” the article noted about Fair Trade suppliers.
At Tokyo’s Toyosu market, fresh bluefin tuna from Aomori Prefecture sold in a range of JPY 4,320 to 15,660 (USD 39.90 to 144.62, EUR 35.70 to 129.43), with an average price of JPY 11,340 (USD 104.73, EUR 93.72). Aomori bluefin is considered to be the highest quality in Japan. Other domestic bluefin sold from JPY 5,400 to 13,500 (USD 49.87 to 124.68, EUR 44.63 to 111.57), with an average price of JPY 9,045 (USD 83.54, EUR 74.81). Imports were in the range of JPY 2,592 to 5,724 (USD 23.96 to 52.90, EUR 21.47 to 47.42). Frozen bluefin sold in the range of JPY 2,160 to JPY 5,724 (USD 19.96 to 52.90, EUR 17.90 to 47.43), with an average of JPY 3,120 (USD 28.91, EUR 25.85).
Fresh yellowfin tuna went for an average of 1,656 (USD 15.30, EUR 13.72) for domestic and JPY 1,476 (USD 13.64, EUR 12.23) for imports. Frozen, from all origins, sold from JPY 756 to 1,296 (USD 6.98 to 11.97, EUR 6.26 to 10.73).
Fresh bigeye tuna landed in Miyagi Prefecture ranged from JPY 1,944 to 2,375 (USD 17.98 to 21.97, EUR 16.13 to 19.70), with an average of JPY 2,138 (USD 19.78, EUR 17.74). Other domestic sold from JPY 1,944 to 2,376 (USD 17.99 to 21.98, EUR 16.13 to 19.72). Imports went for between JPY 1,404 and 3,564 (USD 12.99 to 32.98, EUR 11.65 to 29.58). Frozen from all origins was between JPY 648 and 2,916 (USD 6.00 to 26.98, EUR 5.38 to 24.20), with an average of JPY 1,037 (USD 9.59, EUR 8.61).
Frozen southern bluefin sold from JPY 756 to 3,996 (USD 6.99 to 36.96, EUR 6.28 to 33.19). The average price was JPY 1,863 (USD 17.23, EUR 15.47).
Photo courtesy of Castle City Creative/Shutterstock
