FROZEN AT SEA FILLETS COME TOP IN FISH TASTE TEST

15 October 2007

Frozen at sea cod and haddock fillets are now used by 90% of the fish & ship shops in the UK. To discover the reason why, FASFA organized a fish tasting test at Smales in Hull on Friday 12th October. The tasting was presented by Jeff Crowther MD of Smales to 10 tasters and was supervised and overseen by Julie Snowdon of Seafish. FASFA is an international body covering all sectors of the fish industry, established to promote consumption of frozen at sea fish fillets in the UK.

To produce a fair comparison, all of the 14 types of fish to be tasted were cooked in a microwave for the same period of time with no seasoning and the samples were tasted with no labels or accompanying information. Lime juice was served between the tastings to cleanse the pallet. The fish was judged on appearance, taste and texture.
The top five fish tasted were:-
1. Frozen at Sea fillets of wild haddock
2. Frozen at Sea fillets of wild cod
3. Individual Quick Frozen at Sea fillets of wild cod
4. Fresh, wet, wild haddock
5. Farmed, frozen pangasius

FASFA’s Tim Cartwright-Taylor commented “We are delighted that frozen at sea fillets came top in the scientific tastings – with haddock just beating cod by a whisker. Some new farmed species such as pangasius from Vietnam tasted well but the texture and colour could not match the FAS product. With frozen at sea fillets, we are proud to be helping the Great British Chippie to beat off the challenge of the American inspired competition of burger and chicken, fast food outlets in the UK. ”