Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

Some tuna that was sliced off for us at the deli counter in our supermarket
recently (one of the big four supermarkets), was a much darker colour than
the end face of the whole fish joint. Although the end face was exposed to
the air, it was a much brighter pink colour than what was cut off for us.

I've heard of chicken being 'refreshed' by rogues by dipping in and out of a
dilute solution of bleach. Might some thing similar be going on here to
freshen up the end of the fish joint?

A neighbour also mentioned that some mince beef they bought from there
supermarket was a much brighter colour on the outside to within about four
millimeters of the surface, and then it became a darker colour inside.

Does it not make you wonder what might be going on here?

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

john hamilton > wrote:

>Some tuna that was sliced off for us at the deli counter in our supermarket
>recently (one of the big four supermarkets), was a much darker colour than
>the end face of the whole fish joint. Although the end face was exposed to
>the air, it was a much brighter pink colour than what was cut off for us.

This is the way some tuna (e.g. yellowfin) looks. There are darker regions.
I am not sure why. I usually discard them.

>I've heard of chicken being 'refreshed' by rogues by dipping in and out of a
>dilute solution of bleach. Might some thing similar be going on here to
>freshen up the end of the fish joint?

Unlikely

>A neighbour also mentioned that some mince beef they bought from there
>supermarket was a much brighter colour on the outside to within about four
>millimeters of the surface, and then it became a darker colour inside.

Different issue, this is due to refreshing with gas such as nitroug
oxide.

Steve

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

Steve Pope wrote:

>> A neighbour also mentioned that some mince beef they bought from
>> there supermarket was a much brighter colour on the outside to
>> within about four millimeters of the surface, and then it became a
>> darker colour inside.

> Different issue, this is due to refreshing with gas such as nitroug
> oxide.

Or exposed to light. I can't recall the exact type of lamps, maybe UVA, but
there are lamps which make dark meat become bright red.
--
ViLco
Let the liquor do the thinking

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

On 8/11/2011 1:03 AM, john hamilton wrote:
> Some tuna that was sliced off for us at the deli counter in our supermarket
> recently (one of the big four supermarkets), was a much darker colour than
> the end face of the whole fish joint. Although the end face was exposed to
> the air, it was a much brighter pink colour than what was cut off for us.
>
> I've heard of chicken being 'refreshed' by rogues by dipping in and out of a
> dilute solution of bleach. Might some thing similar be going on here to
> freshen up the end of the fish joint?
>
> A neighbour also mentioned that some mince beef they bought from there
> supermarket was a much brighter colour on the outside to within about four
> millimeters of the surface, and then it became a darker colour inside.
>
> Does it not make you wonder what might be going on here?
>
>

Carbon monoxide has been used to enhance the color of red fish and
meats. That may or may not be what you are seeing.

The classic indicator of CO poisoning in humans is cherry red lips and
it seems to have the same effect on meats. The treatment is allowed in
the US although I'm not sure if it is in Europe. Meat treated this way
is perfectly safe except unless it's been sitting around too long.

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:03:35 +0100, "john hamilton"
> wrote:

> Some tuna that was sliced off for us at the deli counter in our supermarket
> recently (one of the big four supermarkets), was a much darker colour than
> the end face of the whole fish joint. Although the end face was exposed to
> the air, it was a much brighter pink colour than what was cut off for us.
>
> I've heard of chicken being 'refreshed' by rogues by dipping in and out of a
> dilute solution of bleach. Might some thing similar be going on here to
> freshen up the end of the fish joint?
>
> A neighbour also mentioned that some mince beef they bought from there
> supermarket was a much brighter colour on the outside to within about four
> millimeters of the surface, and then it became a darker colour inside.
>
> Does it not make you wonder what might be going on here?
>
It has something to do with exposure to air (I'm not a scientist and
really don't care about the technical part), but the dark tuna is what
you want. It's okay.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila.

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

Steve Pope > wrote:

>This is the way some tuna (e.g. yellowfin) looks. There are darker regions.
>I am not sure why. I usually discard them.

The Wiki article on tuna refers to this as "dark lateral blood meat"
often used for pet food:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuna

In any case, it is normal, but it's normal to discard it and I would
certainly object to a fish counter person trying to sell me entirely
the dark region of the tuna.


Steve

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

On Aug 11, 8:28*am, (Steve Pope) wrote:
> Steve Pope > wrote:
> >This is the way some tuna (e.g. yellowfin) looks. *There are darker regions.
> >I am not sure why. *I usually discard them.
>
> The Wiki article on tuna refers to this as "dark lateral blood meat"
> often used for pet food:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuna
>
> In any case, it is normal, but it's normal to discard it and I would
> certainly object to a fish counter person trying to sell me entirely
> the dark region of the tuna.
>
> Steve

I think you are correct about this. The OP was sold a cheap cut of
tuna. Hopefully he didn't pay much for it and the store was not trying
to rip him off. We'd pretty much trim that stuff off.

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:28:17 +0000 (UTC),
(Steve Pope) wrote:

> Steve Pope > wrote:
>
> >This is the way some tuna (e.g. yellowfin) looks. There are darker regions.
> >I am not sure why. I usually discard them.
>
> The Wiki article on tuna refers to this as "dark lateral blood meat"
> often used for pet food:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuna
>
> In any case, it is normal, but it's normal to discard it and I would
> certainly object to a fish counter person trying to sell me entirely
> the dark region of the tuna.
>
You're talking about those dark streaks. He's talking about dark meat
tuna. It's good stuff. They call it sushi grade charge a whole lot
more for it than they do for light tuna.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila.

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

sf > wrote:

>On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:28:17 +0000 (UTC),
>(Steve Pope) wrote:
>
>> Steve Pope > wrote:
>>
>> >This is the way some tuna (e.g. yellowfin) looks. There are darker regions.
>> >I am not sure why. I usually discard them.
>>
>> The Wiki article on tuna refers to this as "dark lateral blood meat"
>> often used for pet food:
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuna
>>
>> In any case, it is normal, but it's normal to discard it and I would
>> certainly object to a fish counter person trying to sell me entirely
>> the dark region of the tuna.
>>
>You're talking about those dark streaks. He's talking about dark meat
>tuna. It's good stuff.

That is not my impression of what the OP was describing.

Certainly "red" tuna (yellowfin, bigeye, bluefin) is the most
desired for sashimi but only the bright red parts of it (or
red with streaks of fat), not the blackish parts of it.

Steve

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:56:39 +0000 (UTC),
(Steve Pope) wrote:

>
> That is not my impression of what the OP was describing.
>
> Certainly "red" tuna (yellowfin, bigeye, bluefin) is the most
> desired for sashimi but only the bright red parts of it (or
> red with streaks of fat), not the blackish parts of it.

Without a photo to see wtf he's talking about, we could debate this
all day.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila.

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

sf > wrote:

>On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:56:39 +0000 (UTC),

>> That is not my impression of what the OP was describing.

>> Certainly "red" tuna (yellowfin, bigeye, bluefin) is the most
>> desired for sashimi but only the bright red parts of it (or
>> red with streaks of fat), not the blackish parts of it.

>Without a photo to see wtf he's talking about, we could debate this
>all day.

He wrote:

"Some tuna that was sliced off for us at the deli counter in our
supermarket recently (one of the big four supermarkets), was a much
darker colour than the end face of the whole fish joint. Although the end
face was exposed to the air, it was a much brighter pink colour than what
was cut off for us."

This sure sounds like the piece he got is what I have described, and what
Wiki describes, as the "lateral blood flesh".

It does not sounds like he was complaining about purchasing red
tuna instead of white tuna.



Steve

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

On Aug 11, 3:31*pm, Andy > wrote:
> Mark Thorson > wrote:
> > Andy wrote:
>
> >> Whether this has anything to do with your tuna, I dunno, but *there
> >> has been a decades old practice of using special lighting (I forget
> >> which kind) to brighten up the color of meats on the shelves. A
> >> "freshness" trick.
>
> > My nearby Asian market does this. *The lights are
> > subtlely green. *Makes the meat look fresher.
> > Even chicken looks better.
>
> Mark,
>
> I wish I had an Asian market nearby!!!
>
> I've scoured the yellow pages with zero results in a close (5 miles)
> radius. :(
>
> Philadelphia doesn't have a declared "Chinatown," as far as I know.
> Naturally, I'm probably wrong. ;)
>
> Best,
>
> Andy

Only 5 miles? you need to broaden your horizon a bit more.

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

Andy wrote:
>
> Whether this has anything to do with your tuna, I dunno, but there has
> been a decades old practice of using special lighting (I forget which kind)
> to brighten up the color of meats on the shelves. A "freshness" trick.

My nearby Asian market does this. The lights are
subtlely green. Makes the meat look fresher.
Even chicken looks better.

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

john hamilton wrote:
>
> A neighbour also mentioned that some mince beef they bought from there
> supermarket was a much brighter colour on the outside to within about four
> millimeters of the surface, and then it became a darker colour inside.
>
> Does it not make you wonder what might be going on here?

It's brighter on the outside because it has
more exposure to air. Fresh meat deprived of
exposure to air is dark, ranging to purple.
Given a few days, oxygen will penetrate into
the interior and make the meat look "normal".

http://meatblogger.org/2009/09/23/color-of-fresh-meat/

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:32:41 +0000 (UTC),
(Steve Pope) wrote:

> sf > wrote:
>
> >On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:56:39 +0000 (UTC),
>
> >> That is not my impression of what the OP was describing.
>
> >> Certainly "red" tuna (yellowfin, bigeye, bluefin) is the most
> >> desired for sashimi but only the bright red parts of it (or
> >> red with streaks of fat), not the blackish parts of it.
>
> >Without a photo to see wtf he's talking about, we could debate this
> >all day.
>
> He wrote:
>
> "Some tuna that was sliced off for us at the deli counter in our
> supermarket recently (one of the big four supermarkets), was a much
> darker colour than the end face of the whole fish joint. Although the end
> face was exposed to the air, it was a much brighter pink colour than what
> was cut off for us."
>
> This sure sounds like the piece he got is what I have described, and what
> Wiki describes, as the "lateral blood flesh".
>
I still disagree with your conclusion.

> It does not sounds like he was complaining about purchasing red
> tuna instead of white tuna.
>
It sounds exactly like that's what he's complaining about to me.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila.

Dubious freshening up of Tuna
 

On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:42:24 -0700 (PDT), Chemo the Clown
> wrote:

> Only 5 miles? you need to broaden your horizon a bit more.

When you live in or even near a city, 5 miles is far enough. People
live in cities for a reason... so they don't have to make long trips
anywhere.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila.