Process for the shelf-life extension of fish

摘要

A process for treating and packaging fish comprising the steps of receiving (1) and inspecting fish at a point of intake; chilling (2) the fish; and fileting and portioning (4) the fish. The processincludes holding (6) the fileted and portioned fish in bulk production trays in an environment of - 1°C to +1°C; followed by packing (7) the portions to provide a package which is vacuum skin sealed (8, 101), wherein the fish is vacuum skin packed by placing the portions in a retail individual-product tray and covered with a skin film, and sealing with a vacuum pressure of less than 5mBar. The packages are super-chilled in a super-chill stage (9, 200), to a temperature in the range of -4°C to -2°C during a time duration in the range of 45mins to 180mins. The super chilling is implemented by delivering air with a temperature in the range of -25°C to -30°C to the packages. The method finally includes storing (10) the packages in a chill hold environment at a temperature of -6°C to -1°C; and despatching the packaged fish portions for transport to retailers. The packages have a shelf life up to 12 days arising from the combination of steps in the process. Figure 1