Dar seafood ppp standard

Sources of hazards associated with seafood in Australia

Seafood can contain microbiological, chemical, and physical hazards derived from different sources. Some of these hazards occur naturally in the environment in which seafood lives and grows and are unavoidable contaminants of seafood when caught. Examples include:

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  endogenous bacterial species (for example, vibrios, aeromonads) which may or may not be pathogenic to the host species
  
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  biotoxins (typically of algal or bacterial origin, occasionally metabolised by the host to other toxic forms)
  
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  helminthic parasites (where the seafood species is typically an intermediate host)
  
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  heavy metals (for example, mercury, cadmium) and other naturally occurring chemicals (for example, dioxins).
  
  
  

Seafood may also contain food safety hazards as a consequence of the impact of human activities on the environment. Such environmental pollutants include:

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  bacterial and viral pathogens derived from human sewage and animal faecal pollution of seafood growing and harvesting areas (for example, Salmonella spp., Noroviruses)
  
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  industrial chemical pollutants (for example, heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls)
  
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  agricultural chemical run-off (for example, pesticide residues).
  
  
  

Other potential sources of contamination of seafood in the pre-harvest phase include feed components, veterinary drugs and other chemicals employed in aquaculture production.
In the post-harvest phase, hazards can be introduced into seafood, or grow to potentially hazardous levels, through:

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  direct contamination by food handlers and contaminated utensils and equipment
  
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  inadequate handling (for example, temperature abuse, cross-contamination, inadequate processing)
  
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  processing operations and the processing environment.
  

In addressing chemical hazards, the report distinguishes between:

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  those contaminants which are present in food as a result of deliberate addition to seafood or use in seafood production or agriculture
  
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  those which are present as natural contaminants.
  
  
  

The former, including agricultural chemicals, pesticides and veterinary drugs, are subject to pre-market safety assessment and their presence in food is regulated under the Code. These chemicals are not addressed in this report. However, food safety hazards which are natural environmental contaminants of seafood, such as certain heavy metals, and which are inherent or unintentional components of foods, are evaluated along the production and processing supply chain.
Physical hazards associated with seafood have not been specifically addressed in this risk ranking report. Such physical hazards include intrinsic hazards (for example, bones, shell fragments, pearls in oysters) and extrinsic hazards (for example, grit in shellfish, hooks, metal and glass inclusions). The intrinsic physical hazards are less likely to cause injury because of consumer awareness of the potential for the hazard to be present in seafood [17]. Extrinsic physical hazards are potentially introduced at all steps of the production and processing supply chain. Sources for such contaminants include raw materials, badly maintained facilities and equipment, improper production procedures, packaging materials and poor employee practices [18].
Physical hazards may cause traumatic injury to the mouth, tongue, teeth, gums, throat, stomach and intestines, as well as presenting a choking hazard, and would normally be addressed by adherence to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), a hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) system and requirements relating to safe and suitable food in state and territory legislation.