How fresh fish sold on supermarket counters could be NINE days old
Fish is often frozen and then defrosted before being sold on fresh fish counters
FRESH fish on supermarket counters is likely to be NINE days out and have previously been frozen, it has been claimed.
Many shoppers assume that fillets of cod, bass, salmon, tuna and trout may have been recently caught.
But to keep fish fresh many of them have been frozen and are then defrosted before being laid on fresh counters in stores.
New research by laboratory Premier Analytical Services - which was commissioned by rival Iceland - has found out which supermarkets have the freshest fish.
The company claims that the independent tests show that frozen fish is much less likely to deteriorate than what appears to be "fresh".
It tested our popular fish from Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's against Iceland's frozen counterparts.
Each fish type - seabass, tuna, rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon - was tested immediately after buying and then 22 hours later.
The fresh fish sold by rival stores showed evidence of deterioration on both sets of tests.
For example, it claims that seabass from Tesco fish counter developed a pungent, amine odour in the first 22 hours.
By contrast, the samples from Iceland, which were thawed before testing, either has no deterioration, or a slight deterioration in the case of the trout.
Frozen salmon from Iceland and "fresh" fillets from Asda showed the least deterioration of all the samples.
HOW OLD IS YOUR GRUB? Some of them may be older than your think
Food Standards Agency guidelines say fish may be labelled as fresh if it has "been kept chilled on ice, but not stored deep frozen
It comes after a wholesale food supplier revealed that sandwiches and salads bought by hungry Brits could contain eggs up to a month old.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “We’re proud to offer our customers a wide range of quality frozen and fresh fish, in our aisles and at the fish counter.”
The Sun Online contacted Sainsbury's and Asda for a comment.
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