​Measurement of ASP in King Scallops Processed in Scotland

Summary

Integrin Advanced Biosystems Ltd
Mckenzie, J ; Bavington, C

Conclusions and recommendations

1. It may be possible to determine from which areas within a fisheries box scallops are most likely to have high levels of domoic acid, making it possible to accurately define scallop grounds where the levels of domoic acid in the scallop will be similar.
2. Over 99% of the domoic acid associated with the scallops is consistently removed by shucking.
3. Different processors produced significantly different results when shucking scallops from the same batch for both roe-off and roe-on product. Shucking standards are thus very important in determining the outcome of end product testing (EPT), particularly when the scallop gonads are small.
4. Thorough washing was important in reducing the domoic acid levels in poorly shucked scallops. It is important to prevent the shucked scallop meats from coming in contact with the juices from the scallop offal.
5. Implementation of full HACCP procedures to deal with domoic acid in scallops should not be difficult or overly expensive for scallop processors
6. The analysis that resulted in the 4.6 mg/kg “trigger-level” assumed that the analytical methods used produced negligible variation in domoic acid and that the observed variation was natural. Shucking is in fact the greatest source of variation, making this assumption (and the calculation depending on it) invalid.
7. The EPT should be based on the combined roe-on product (i.e. on both gonad and muscle simultaneously). If any product is formed from gonads or adductor muscle alone these should be separately tested. A batch should be all the scallops landed from a single box (or similarly defined area) to a single processor within one week regardless of the number or type of scallop gatherers.

Project Code: S02011