Foods we have Lost : Scallops in their Shell

Well, we won't be able to make this recipe from Ken Hom's new 'Quick Wok' cookbook will we. See Bookshelf for more details of recipes from Ken's book that you can cook!

Last issue we focused on the fact that one can no longer buy wild scallops in their shell.

We are grateful to David Lyons of the Food Safety Authority for the following comprehensive reply on the issue, which outlines the FSA's approach. However, we would like to hear from people in the fish business regarding this reply, for it seems to us that a great natural asset has been lost, and whilst the FSA's approach is logical, we have one major question: how many people were actually made ill by eating scallops? Of course we are required to abide by EU regulations, but did their application mean that there was no other course of action? These are important questions regarding our artisan food industries.

Dear John and Sally,

Since we have become aware that you have made Pat Wall your Person of the Year, your website and Megabytes have become required reading in the FSAI. As a celebration of Irish food, we think it's very impressive.

One item that did catch my attention was the piece on "Great Foods We Have Lost" (featuring a photo of Padstow's own Rick Stein) done in relation to the dearth of scallops sold in the shell. My own interest in this area is down to the fact that as one of the FSAI's Contracts Managers I am responsible for setting and managing Service Contracts with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and the Marine Institute.

The article laments the loss of scallops sold in the shell, and raises the question as to why they are no longer allowed to be sold that way, as well as the fact that communications with the trade seem not to have effectively taken place.

The situation we were faced with is the perennial one of balancing the safety of the food with the requirements or expectations of the market, the interests of the consumer and the needs of the producer / industry. To quote Pat Wall, "there's no market for unsafe food," but we don't want to eliminate choice, variety or innovation either.

With scallops we had a particular problem with Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP). ASP is caused by a naturally occurring marine phytoplankton which releases a toxin into its environment. This "biotoxin" can then accumulate in shellfish such as scallops to levels where human illness can be caused. While the toxin may accumulate throughout the animal, significant amounts build up in the hepatopancreas of shellfish.

The control of shellfish is founded on European legislation which is required to be enforced in member states of the EU. Essentially, they require us to monitor fisheries and where levels of the ASP toxin exceed a certain value, close an area until the level of toxicity falls back below the regulatory limit. However, the only problem with that is the need for continuous and regular sampling of fishing areas to determine toxicity levels and ultimately when areas are open or closed.

The nature of the scallop catch and the location of the fisheries present significant difficulties in operating a sampling regime for wild scallops, making it prohibitively expensive to monitor fisheries until they could be opened again. Also, if scallops are marketed with the hepatopancreas, the chances of an area being closed and remaining closed for a prolonged period are greatly increased.

Against this background, the Food Safety Authority met with our colleagues in the Department of Communications Marine and Natural Resources, and the Marine Institute to try and devise a rational way of managing this situation. The best solution we could conceive was for the scallops, when caught, to be shucked to remove the hepatopancreas. This then would allow them to be treated as a product, rather than a shellfish, and a separate set of criteria could be applied. To put it in some context, the results for 2002 (January to November) show that 42% of whole scallops were above the regulatory limit, while only 11% of the actual edible portions were above the same regulatory limit. The logic to remove the hepatopancreas prior to testing was therefore fairly compelling.

The decision was therefore made that only shucked scallops would be placed on the market, unfortunately this meant they could not be marketed live in their shell.

However, all the above only applies to the wild scallop fishery. Cultivated scallops can still be marketed live in their shell, although I appreciate they may not be as attractive as their wild cousins, and there may difficulties in sourcing them because the amount cultivated is only a fraction of that taken from the wild.

As an aside, I would also like this opportunity to draw your attention to the website set up to provide information on the biotoxin status of all Ireland's molluscan shellfish production areas. It can be found at http://www.fsai.ie/sfma/default.asp Data is provided from the Marine Institute, from samples provided by fishermen and shellfish producers all over the country, with the support of Department of Communication Marine and Natural Resources Sea Fisheries Officers who manage and co-ordinate the operation of the programme.

I trust the above answers the question in relation to scallops, but if you require anything further, please do not hesitate to let me know. I'll be e-mailing Pat O'Connell to provide this explanation to him and give him the satisfactory explanation he deserves.

Wishing you every success in the New Year

David Lyons
Contracts Manager
Food Safety Authority of Ireland
Abbey Court, Lower Abbey St.,
Dublin 1.

Tel: +353 1 8171300
Fax: + 353 1 8171301
Website: http://www.fsai.ie

David Lyons did indeed contact Pat O'Connell with an explanation, and this is Pat O'Connell's reaction

(as quoted to Megabytes reporter)

'Look, I can see where he's coming from, but it's the same old story, isn't it. I wouldn't be happy about the answer. We've been selling scallops for so long, and never had a customer sick. I'm just not convinced.

'I appreciate that he came back to me with an answer, but at the end of the day I'm not satisfied. If you go down that line, quoting all those statistics - well you could stop almost any food couldn't you?

'I'd be much happier to be selling my customers live shellfish than what's coming in now.'