Bacteria Counts on Cod and Flounder Fillets Produced Commercially from Fish Frozen at Sea and Thawed in Water

Fillets of flounder (Hippoglossoides platessoides) and cod (Gadus morhua) produced in two commercial plants from uncut fish that had been frozen in blocks at sea, were free or nearly so of faecal coliforms and generally contained fewer indicator bacteria (all organisms in the coliform group; faecal coliforms) than fillets produced in the same plant from fish iced at sea. Coliforms were found in relatively small numbers on most fillets of thawed fish sampled on the conveyor leading from the mechanical skinner, on similarly prepared fillets sampled after trimming and portioning, and on fillets prepared from fish iced at sea and sampled immediately after skinning. The total plate count on the fillets of thawed fish at the point of trimming and portioning was small, suggesting that the fish frozen at sea carried a relatively low count of fish-spoiling organisms at time of freezing and thawing.The results show that in processing blocks of gutted or gutted and headed fish it is practical to thaw in an immersion...