Popular Omani sea food could be unsafe

Muscat: A popular sea food in Oman could be unsafe for human consumption due unsafe drying and storage methods, according to a group of researchers at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU).

Anchovies, also known as Qasha in Oman, are used in many traditional preparations such as salted, pickled, smoked and marinated anchovies.

“In Oman, anchovies are caught by a trawling net, generally handled under unhygienic conditions, traditionally dried under the sun for three to five days, packed in sacks and stored at ambient temperature for a few weeks before consumption,” explained Dr Esmail Al Beloushi, Assistant Professor at the SQU’s Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences.

Al Beloushi, who was part of the SQU and Malaysian Monash University research team that investigated the safety of traditional dried anchovies by characterising their microbial flora, revealed that besides the unhygienic fishing methods, dried anchovies are consumed in Oman and other countries in the region without any heat treatment. “This [lack of heat treatment] could be risky.”

He revealed that their study found high levels of microbial contamination on the anchovy, which is a family of small salt-water forage fish.

“The properties of dried anchovies such as water content and microbial load vary due to fluctuation in processing conditions which could affect the quality and safety of the product,” said Dr Al Beloushi.

He added that anchovies are associated with scombroid poisoning, which is a foodborne illness that results from eating spoiled (decayed) fish.

Al Beloushi said that he and his co-researchers — Prof Nejib Guizani and Prof Gary Dykes — also observed high levels of contamination with bacteria, such as Acinetobacter Lwoffii, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter cloacae, that usually originate from human and non-human sources during catching, sun drying and handling after processing.

The SQU researcher advised fishermen in the country to handle fresh anchovies under hygienic conditions. “They [fishermen] should also dry them [anchovies] using an appropriate scientific method to minimise the risk factors.”

The three researchers have observed that the drying methods employed by local fishermen are not standardised and most parameters remain uncontrolled. “In the current method, essential drying parameters as duration, air humidity and temperature are not precisely determined and mastered,” he observed.

Overall, Al Beloushi questioned hygienic conditions of fish capture, processing and storage.