Scombroid Poisoning

[Popeye]

One of the tuna we caught last Sat. had yellow spots under the skin, I assume that it was histimine so I discarded it. Funny thing is that it was brain spiked, bled, and immediately put into the saltwater ice brine as usual. I've never seen this before, and it is really puzzling me! Pilar, what do you think man? [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]

[wak'm&stak'm]

I have been seeing random little yellow spots for the last 30 years of tuna cleanning. Popeyes fish sounds like a bad case, I never gave them much thought.
I have never seen them in the meat just next to the slin.

[Hamachi]

I'm no expert but I've caught well over 1000 tuna over the years, (one El Nino summer in So.Cal. I put over 225 YFT over the rail, mostly by myself), and have seen those spots under the skin quite frequently. This includes the fish I caught Monday off Westport. I have always thought they were like some sort of abcess. They are always under the skin in the fatty tissue and can be easily scraped off with a knife

I believe the histamine build up is a chemical reaction within the meat.

[Capt. Rich]

The yellow spots on a tuna are like lesions or parasites you see on rockfish or striped bass. Scombroid poisoning is from improper handling of tuna. If you let tuna get hot then the meat begins to decay and create histamines. No different than if you let a salmon bake all day in the sun. As tuna is usually caught in warm water, the decay process starts almost immediately. Also tuna are a warm blooded fish. Their internal temperature is much higher than the waters that they are swimming in. That is one reason to immediately bleed your tuna when you catch one. Also icing tuna is critical. Some tuna fisherman even gut their tuna upon landing as the liver is also very hot.

[OceanBlue]

Hi Popeye,

Pilar is on his way to Canada. Dunno if he'll be logged on for the next week.

Mark Mc is probably the guy who can answer this.

[corrirod]

A couple of the fish we caught last week had yellow spots on their skin but I didn't notice anything on the meat. They were very random, odd spots in a group. Are these the same thing? I hope not because I've been eating tuna like crazy lately.
[img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]

[Uglygreen]

I noticed the same thing... no awnser though?

UG.

[Threemuch]

Those yellow spots are common. Seen them many times, and eaten the fish. No metallic taste, no death.

I thought they were fat deposits, they look and feel like them.

If you want to discard the fish that have them, discard them my way.

[Mark Mc]

I have a call in to the OSU Seafood Lab; waiting to hear back. I think this critter is a parasite of the muscle called "didymozoid trematodes" but we'll see what the experts say.

We've seen this for years, usually in one out of about five fish, and maybe two to ten "spots" per fish. Just scraped them off & eat as normal. In fact, one of the fish we got last Friday had this & I ate some of it raw; no
probl.....uh......oh God, I'm getting dizzy, oh no, gotta go.......

[Popeye]

Threemuch,
Point taken... However, although I tend not to be overly cautious about things, ie: worked high steel for 18 years, my 27 year old son got scombroid poisoning from a jar of our canned tuna, of last years batch, last month. I DO appreciate the responses and will probably not be throwing good fish away in the future. Again, thanks for the help. Now I'm off to spend a week on the Julie Rose

[avid]

I have home canned thousand of jars of food, although I haven't in years, and if done correctly is completely safe. I didn't want to leave the impression that it was otherwise.

[avid]

Popeye,

Here is some information on Scombroid and Botulism. Either could be caused by home canned tuna. You may know for sure but I thought it might help others, if you do.

Scombroid Poisoning

http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap38.html

Initial symptoms may include a tingling or burning sensation in the mouth, a rash on the upper body and a drop in blood pressure. Frequently, headaches and itching of the skin are encountered. The symptoms may progress to nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea and may require hospitalization, particularly in the case of elderly or impaired patients

Diagnosis of the illness is usually based on the patient's symptoms, time of onset, and the effect of treatment with antihistamine medication. The suspected food must be analyzed within a few hours for elevated levels of histamine to confirm a diagnosis.

Botulism
Symptoms start 12-36 hours and sometimes several days after eating a contaminated food and include:
 blurred vision
 dry mouth
 paralysis of the muscles, especially those muscles that control the face, swallowing, and breathing.
 vomiting
 constipation or diarrhea

Diagnosis
 The bacteria can be cultured from the stool (feces), but diagnosis is usually made by identifying the toxin in blood, stool or suspected food.
 Requires immediate medical attention.