Quality assurance of fish finger with special emphasis on its microbial effect

The present studies have deals with the status of some of the common food borne bacteria found during the processing and storage of the fish byproducts during subsequent period and the impact of freezing on extending the shelf life of the product. The fishfinger is the major value added product has been selected for assessing the quality with special emphasis on its microbiological analysis. The safety of foods is principally assured by control at the source, product design and process control, and the application of good hygienic practices during production, processing (including labeling), handling, distribution, storage, sale, preparation and use, in conjunction with the application of the HACCP system. This preventive approach offers more control than microbiological testing because the effectiveness of microbiological examination to assess the safety of foods is limited. The result of microbial analysis (Total Plate Count (TPC) and count of Staphylococcus, Escherichia, Salmonella and Vibrio) does not show any harmful indication of fishfinger during their processing and cold storage. The statistical analysis from the obtained data also revealed the significant correlation at 0.05% level.