Sampling of Atlantic salmon using the Norwegian Quality cut (NQC) vs. Whole fillet; differences in contaminant and nutrient contents

Ole Jakob Nøstbakken; Amalie Moxness Reksten; Rita Hannisdal; Lisbeth Dahl; Arne Duinker

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136056

Sampling of Atlantic salmon using the Norwegian Quality cut (NQC) vs. Whole fillet; differences in contaminant and nutrient contents

Food Chem. 2023 Aug 30:418:136056. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136056. Epub 2023 Mar 30.

Authors

Ole Jakob Nøstbakken¹, Amalie Moxness Reksten², Rita Hannisdal³, Lisbeth Dahl⁴, Arne Duinker⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Marine Research, P.O. Box 2029 Nordnes, Bergen 5817, Norway. Electronic address: olejakob.nostbakken@hi.no.
² Institute of Marine Research, P.O. Box 2029 Nordnes, Bergen 5817, Norway. Electronic address: amalie.moxness.reksten@hi.no.
³ Institute of Marine Research, P.O. Box 2029 Nordnes, Bergen 5817, Norway. Electronic address: rita.hannisdal@hi.no.
⁴ Institute of Marine Research, P.O. Box 2029 Nordnes, Bergen 5817, Norway. Electronic address: lisbeth.dahl@hi.no.
⁵ Institute of Marine Research, P.O. Box 2029 Nordnes, Bergen 5817, Norway. Electronic address: arne.duinker@hi.no.

PMID: 37003200
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136056

Abstract

Risk- benefit assessments of seafood require high-quality food composition data. In accordance with EU regulations, Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) has conventionally been sampled using the Norwegian Quality Cut (NQC), a sub-cut of the middle section of the fish, in Norwegian surveillance programs. By comparing the contents of nutrients and contaminants in 34 samples of farmed Atlantic salmon, we aimed to evaluate the representativeness of the NQC compared with the whole fillet. Of the 129 analytes evaluated, eight single analytes, in addition to 25 different fatty acids, showed significant differences between the cuts. Significant differences were evident for total fat, including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and sum PCB-6, but not for the sum of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs. We further suggest that the NQC may still be used in large-scale sampling of Atlantic salmon, and that the whole fillet would be preferable when analysing the content of nutrients.

Keywords: Atlantic salmon; Contaminants; Norwegian quality cut; Nutrients; Sampling.

MeSH terms

Animal Feed / analysis
Animals
Dioxins*
Nutrients / analysis
Polychlorinated Biphenyls* / analysis
Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins* / analysis
Salmo salar*

Substances

Polychlorinated Biphenyls
Dioxins
Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins