Analytical Report - Fish filled sandwiches

Introduction

A previous campaign to look at canned fish, fish pâtés and fish sauces. This campaign had identified a couple of products with raised levels of histamine.

Histamine is a chemical involved in local immune responses. It may be found in oily fish and its presence is an indicator that the fish is not as fresh as it should be. Excess histamine can cause a reaction e.g. skin flushing, throbbing headache, oral burning, cramps, diarrhoea and palpitations. Asthmatics may have wheezing or bronchospasms, and occasionally the symptoms are more severe. Symptoms usually last 4-6 hours, but may last as long as a day. Histamine is not broken down by usual cooking, so even well-cooked fish might give rise to toxic effects. There is therefore a maximum permitted level of histamine permitted in food for safety purposes as well as to determine fish quality.

Thirteen samples of sandwiches with a fish filling were therefore submitted for testing for histamine (in the fish portion only) and their labelling. All the samples contained tuna with the exception of two that were prawn filled.

Summary of results

Histamine was only found in one of the thirteen samples at a very low level. This suggests therefore that the fish being used to make sandwich fillings is of good quality fish.

Sandwich labelling has always been a problem area, and it is no surprise that four of the thirteen samples were deficient in this respect. Sandwiches are often made by small local producers without the knowledge or resources to provide satisfactory labels.

Two of the samples had illegible labels, the font used on one was too small. Two had no QUID for the tuna content and did not give the ingredients of compound ingredients e.g. mayonnaise.

May 2008