UF Shrimp School Works To Improve Quality And Safety For Consumers And Industry
June 15, 2000
Toward that end, the University of Florida is at the effort’s leading edge with an ongoing series of workshops — dubbed “shrimp school” — that brings together researchers, government inspectors and industry representatives from around the world.
The mission: sharing the latest technology and methods aimed at guaranteeing that next plate of shrimp cocktail or bowl of seafood gumbo leaves you satiated — not reeling with a dose of salmonella.
“Working with suppliers from other countries helps all of us ensure that imported shrimp meets U.S. standards,” said Steve Otwell, extension seafood specialist at UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Shrimp consumption in the United States has more than doubled in the past two decades — 1.1 pounds per person a year in 1976 vs. 2.6 pounds per person a year in 1996, the most recent statistics available. At the same time, shrimp imports also have increased, as has the need to police shrimp quality.
While quality and safety standards in other countries have progressed markedly in recent years, those in the United States remain some of the strictest in the world. That, combined with the fact that the United States is the world’s second-largest shrimp importer after Japan — about 800 million pounds last year — means people affiliated with the shrimp industry overseas must know and comply with U.S. standards, said Otwell.
School participants get to review the latest FDA standards, so they can supply American consumers with the highest quality shrimp, said Laura Garrido, shrimp school coordinator and a researcher with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
“And with participants from over 10 countries, we are actually helping improve shrimp quality globally,” Garrido said.
The shrimp school stands out among other similar workshops through UF researchers’ eagerness to share new technology, some of which they helped bring to the market, said James Barnett, a national sensory specialist with FDA in Seattle, who oversaw workshops on shrimp decomposition.
“They really take a let’s do it’ approach and share some of the latest developments out there that people might not be aware of, especially in international circles,” Barnett said.
For instance, UF researchers affiliated with the shrimp school were the first to test an electronic nose, programmed to store information on different sensory reactions to seafood spoilage and quality. It is expected to become a regular tool in food testing, though it is not expected to replace its human counterpart.
The school attracts participants from some of the leading shrimp exporting nations, among them Australia, Mexico, Thailand, the Phillippines and Venezuela. The workshops have been held annually for the past five years, most recently in late May, but growing demand has forced UF representatives to increase the number of workshops to three a year, starting with one scheduled for October.
“We don’t even advertise,” Garrido said, “yet we already have our list full for next time.”
Nick Ruello, a shrimp safety and quality consultant from Australia, attended the May workshop and said he found it valuable in getting first-hand information from FDA experts.
“It is a big industry in Australia. We both import and export, like the United States, and need to follow FDA standards, so it was informative,” Ruello said.
To find out more about the shrimp school, visit the Web site at shrimpschool.ifas.ufl.edu.