Don’t Refreeze Fish, Meat After Thawing

Frozen fish and meat sellers and the general public has been advised against refreezing thawed fish and meat as that negatively affect their taste and nutrients.

Most sellers in Ghana after defrosting fish and meat purchased from the cold stores, sell them at the markets but refreeze the leftover thus subjecting the products to a vicious cycle of thaw, sell and refreeze.

Mrs Evangeline Somuah, Vice President of Coldstore Owners and Operators Association of Ghana (COOAG), in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, described the practice as “not the best”.

Mrs Somuah said apart from destroying the natural taste of the fish, it also led to the lost of the quality of the nutrients.

She observed that retailing fish on the sun as being done in most markets in Ghana also affected the colour of the fish adding that fish sellers dip the fishes into all manner of colour solutions and dyes for the fish to appear fresh and appealing.

She, therefore appealed to government, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies operating the various markets to provide chillers for the fish and meat sectors just as it pertains in other countries and at the supermarkets.

Another way of keeping the fish quality, she indicated, was to ensure that it did not thaw completely before returning it into the freezer adding that households must cook the fish after thawing before freezing to help keep its nutrients and taste.

The Vice President of COOAG also called on the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to acquire blast freezers for the fishing harbours to help preserve the fishes at the right temperature.

According to her, the freezing capacity of private coldstores in the fishing harbour was not strong enough to keep the fish fresh.

She explained that fishermen were expected to put their catch into blast freezers after returning from sea and selling some to the fish mongers before taking the rest to the coldstore.

Mrs Somuah added that while a blast freezer could freeze a quantity of fish less than 30 minutes, the freezers at the coldstores would do same over two hours.

She intimated that private coldstore owners could not operate blast freezers due to the high cost of electricity bills therefore the need for one to be purchased and run by the GPHA.

Source: GNA