How can you tell if the fish is rotten? Signs of rotten fish

Fish dishes are not only tasty, but also healthy. Nutritionists advise to include them in the menu at least twice a week. But spoiled product can cause serious poisoning and lead to health problems. Therefore, it is important to be able to determine how fresh the fish is and whether you can eat it.

How Do You Know If Fish Is Spoiled?

You can buy fish in the store in different forms: fresh, smoked, salted. Not all retail outlets do not adhere to the terms of sale and can sell a product that has already begun to spoil. Also you should know the signs that the fish is stale, if you like to stock up and not immediately cook the products you buy. The first thing that should alert you is an unpleasant smell. In addition, there are signals that tell you not to use such fish.

Fresh

Determine whether the product has not gone bad visually.

1. First of all, you should pay attention to the eyes. Fresh fish will be transparent and shiny. If they became cloudy, then the product began to go bad.
2. The gills will tell you the same thing. Their natural color is pink. Gray or brown is a direct indication that rotting has already begun.
3. Often fresh fish is sold without the head. Then you need to touch the carcass itself. If it is sticky, it is better not to risk it.
4. Milk or gray spots may begin to appear on the meat.
5. You can try dropping the fish into water poured into a wide container. Fresh fish will sink, but spoiled fish will float.

Frozen .

On the one hand, at low temperatures bacteria can not develop, on the other hand - you always need to know if you put the fish in the freezer in time, and whether it was subjected to secondary freezing. There are several factors that can help you determine if such a product has gone bad:

1. Yellow, bluish, or gray color of the fillets will tell you that the fish has already been frozen slightly spoiled.
2. If it is gutted you should look at the abdomen. If you can see bones that have literally torn the meat, then the product is hopelessly spoiled.
3. Freshly frozen fish will have a white bone cut, occasionally with a yellow tinge. When this is not the case, it is better to refuse to buy.

Smoked

1. Choosing smoked fish you need to pay attention to its color. It should be uniform. If there are signs of slime on the skin and it is wet, it is likely that the product has been processed already spoiled.
2. When the fish stored for a long time, trying to return the marketable appearance, you can smell vegetable oil.

Tip! You should not buy smoked fish wrapped in clingfilm. This does not apply to vacuum packaging.

Dried or dried

Such fish can be dangerous to health if you used spoiled raw materials, violated the technology of preparation or did not observe the necessary conditions during storage.

Should alert:

1. Sour or raw odor.
2. Mucus or other deposits on the skin of fish.
3. Appearance of mold. Look especially carefully around the edges of the carcass.
4. If the belly has a yellowish tint, then the fish oil has already begun to oxidize. It is not recommended to eat such a product.

Fried

As cooked fish begins to spoil, its surface becomes wetter and covered with a layer of mucus. Eating such a product, you can easily get food poisoning.

Shelf life and conditions

Storage conditions and duration depend on the type of fish, size and processing method of the product. It is not worth trying to cook something from it if the first signs of spoilage appear. It is life-threatening.

Fresh fish

If fresh fish is not refrigerated, it will spoil within a few hours. Placed in the refrigerator at a temperature of minus 2 degrees to 0, it will not lose its qualities for up to three days.

In domestic refrigerators the temperature regime is somewhat different, so they do not recommend storing the product for more than 24 hours.

Don't take any chances if you're not sure you'll have time to eat it in this time. It is better to put the excess in the freezer right away.

Important! It is not recommended to freeze fish that has been in the freezer for several days.

Frozen

Depending on what kind of fish belongs to, the terms of its storage in the freezer will be different. Lean fish will keep noticeably longer. If the packaging is not airtight, the fat will gradually oxidize. The finished product will have an unpleasant taste.

If the temperature in the chamber is about 0 ° C, then the fish should be processed within three days. At minus 5-6 degrees Celsius, the storage period increases to 14 days. The optimum temperature is -18-25 degrees Celsius. In these conditions, the fish remains edible from three (sardine, saury) to nine months (pollack, sea bass).

When frozen naturally in the freezer of a domestic refrigerator, the shelf life of the product is reduced. The fish that has been blast-frozen does not spoil the longest.

Smoked

The shelf life of smoked fish depends on how it was cooked.

1. "Cold smoke" allows the final product not to spoil for longer. Up to +5 ° C it is fit to eat for a month. If the temperature is reduced to -5 degrees, the period is extended twice.
2. In the freezer, hot-smoked fish does not spoil within 30 days. In the refrigerator it can not be stored longer than 48 hours.

Dried or dried

Fish prepared this way is not so demanding to storage conditions.

1. Dried better packed in paper and put in a room where the air temperature does not exceed 8 ° C. Humidity should be about 70%. It should be eaten within 2 months. If frozen, it is fit to eat for about 1 year.
2. Dried fish is best stored in a ventilated cool room. In this condition, fish is stored for 3 to 6 months.

Fried

Fried fish spoils quite quickly. At room temperature, it is desirable not to store it more than three hours. The uneaten product should be placed in the refrigerator. But even there it can be stored for up to one and a half days. Therefore, you should not fry fish as a reserve.

Is it possible to eat spoiled fish

Eat stale fish categorically impossible. It can lead to serious health problems.

What harm can come

1. Poisoning with a spoiled product causes intoxication of the body. Vomiting, diarrhea appear, tachycardia may develop, blood pressure may fall to critical levels. One of the symptoms is a disorder of consciousness. The victim may fall into a coma.
2. Infection-toxic shock causes acute renal failure.
3. Dehydration can lead to failure of internal organs.
4. Spoiled carcasses can begin to reproduce bacteria that cause scombrotoxicosis.
5. Botulinum bacteria cause respiratory paralysis, which can be fatal.

Important! At the first sign of poisoning you must consult a doctor, rather than self-medicate.

How to send fish in a parcel without it going bad

Sending fish over a long distance is not a good option, unless it is possible to send it by ferry in a private car in the cold season. And in that case, you shouldn't send fresh fish either. The only viable option is to send vacuum-packed fillets. Before buying you need to make sure that the integrity of the film and check the expiration date of the product.

Dried or smoked fish should be wrapped in breathable material so that it does not suffocate. In this case it is not possible to get rid of all of its flavors.

To send salted fish by mail it should be wiped with vegetable oil, wrapped in several layers of parchment paper and wrapped with tape or string. The oil will ensure a longer shelf life of the fish and prevent it from getting moldy.