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Hawaii International Seafood, Inc. Tasteless Smoke Technology Exit

Introduction  Nothing compares to the quality of fresh seafood  Tuna, being the most valuable seafood in the world*, will be used as our example for this discussion (*an oily bluefin can sell for as much as $100 per pound, considering these animals can grow to over 1,000/lbs, a single animal can sell for more than $100,000)  One of the reasons tuna is so valuable is because a perfect fish is hard to find  The bright red color of tuna is like delicate flower that deteriorates quickly when exposed to the elements  The slightest mistreatment of the tuna from catch to consumer can shift the color from a ruby red to a chocolate brown, overnight! Exit

Challenges of Truly Fresh  Truly Fresh tuna is, most often, unrealistic  Timely access to tuna is rarely possible  Even tunas that “slept in the ocean last night” go through many hands and therefore are open to many opportunities for damage and contamination  The rush to market sometime hinders the ability to test unfrozen product for wholesomeness  The 1997 Food Code requires raw, marinated, or partially cooked fish to be frozen to ensure destruction of parasites  Prices and availability fluctuate unpredictability, making tunas impractical for on the menu or advertised retail items Exit

“Fresh” Tuna  Nothing is better than the flavor and vitality of a tuna that is straight out of the water  However, just because it has never been frozen, should it be called fresh?  Here is an actual path to market for some “fresh” tunas… –the boat goes 1 week out to sea, fishes for 1 week and takes 1 week to get back to port –it can take 1 to 2 days to process and pack the fish –it can take 1 to 3 days in transit to get to the distributor –1 to 3 days to get to the seafood store or restaurant –1 to 3 days before it is served to the public  After 25 days, as long as it never been frozen, this fish can still be called “fresh”  It can still look red but decomposition has started Exit

Frozen Tuna  Freezing Tuna alleviates inconsistencies in price, availability and shrinkage while allowing all the time necessary to check for wholesomeness  In Japan, tuna is frozen to super low temperatures which maintains its fresh like characteristics  Since super low temperature freezers are not common outside of Japan, color, taste, aroma and texture become issues that need to be addressed  Conventionally frozen tuna oxidizes which drastically changes the tunas characteristics  100% Carbon Monoxide treatments affect the oxidation of tuna but is not the most fresh like option and has the potential of major problems Exit

“Tasteless Smoke”  It is our position that tuna, treated with tasteless smoke then frozen, is the best alternative when truly fresh tuna is not available or practical  “Tasteless Smoke” is a natural wood smoke that has had its smoky odor and flavor removed through filtration  When Tuna is treated with chilled “Tasteless Smoke” it retains its fresh characteristics during freezing  Normal decomposition occurs after the product is thawed Exit

Raw/Thawed Properties Dr. Joseph Maga, Director of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University, reviewed Tasteless Smoke technology testing over 300 samples for various property characteristics and has submitted the following test results Exit

Tasteless Smoke Chemistry  CO 2, CO, NO 2, NO, and monoaromatic phenol found in wood smoke all have preservative effects  Phenols found in Tasteless Smoke have anti-oxidant powers and act as bacteria inhibitors  CO 2 in Tasteless Smoke affects oxidation and has an inhibiting influence to bacterial growth  CO, NO2, and NO undergo chemical reactions with myoglobin to fix color, taste, aroma, and texture, in addition to retarding oxidation and decomposition Exit

Color Properties  Dr. Mega’s laboratory evaluated the red color differences between fresh and defrosted CO treated, Tasteless Smoke treated and conventionally frozen tuna  Average red color measurements taken with a Hunter Color Difference Meter are: CO Treated (Frozen 2 Mths) Tasteless Smoke Treated (Frozen 2 Mths) Untreated Tuna (Frozen 2 Mths) n/a1.76Fresh Tuna Day 5Day 1Product Exit

Texture Properties  Oxidation, with rapid deterioration of the muscle tissue and denaturing of protein groups cause conventionally frozen seafood becomes dry and lifeless after prolonged frozen storage  Tenderness is a measure of juiciness and is largely responsible for flavor in seafood  Using an Allo-Kramer shear press, Dr. Mega’s laboratory compared the tenderness of defrosted TS tuna to conventionally frozen untreated tuna  The results show that TS tuna is 4% to 4.6% more tender and juicy raw and 3.6% to 4% cooked when compared to conventionally frozen tuna Exit

Aroma Properties  Conventionally frozen seafood develops off-odors or strong “freezer smells” that impart a poor taste to the seafood  Using a trained ten-member sensory panel, dr. Mega compared the aroma intensity of defrosted tasteless smoke tuna to defrosted conventionally frozen tuna  The results summarized below conclude that the aroma of untreated conventionally frozen tuna is consistently “stronger smelling” than tasteless smoke tuna Aroma Intensity Cooked Aroma Intensity Raw Tasteless Smoke Conventionally frozen Exit

Microbial Shelf Life  If CO/CO 2 is added to a liquid food system, like tuna, it will convert to carbonic acid  This, in turn, makes the system more acidic, extending the microbial refrigerated shelf life  Even small pH changes result in significant extensions of shelf life  It is estimated that the differences found in the Tasteless Smoke samples extend the microbial shelf life of the seafood by approximately 10% to 15% Exit

Summary  Truly fresh tuna is most desirable but is often impractical to impossible obtain  Tuna that has never been frozen is precarious and does have health concerns  Conventionally freezing tuna dramatically changes its properties  100% CO affects the oxidation during freezing but is not “Fresh Like” in many ways  Tasteless Smoke treated frozen tuna is the closest thing available to truly fresh tuna Exit