These days, a video of a couple has gone viral on social media that tells how, after eating in a restaurant during their vacation, they ended up in the hospital’s emergency room just an hour after paying the bill and full of spots all over the body. Guilty? A batch of tuna in poor condition that caused them a disease with a very curious name: scombroidosis.
When a fish not stored properly or refrigerated poorly, their flesh begins to decompose due to the action of bacteria. But there are certain types of fish that contain high levels of histidine completely naturally. In this case, these bacteria will transform histidine into histamine, which when ingested will cause us to become poisoned.
Not really. This is something that can happen especially with species of dark-fleshed, deep-sea fishthe so-called fish scombroids. This is the case of tuna, bonito or mackerel. But it can also occur when we eat non-scombroid fish such as salmon, sardines or herring.
The excess of it. Any fresh fish contains approximately 1 milligram of histamine per 100 grams of fish. In these species we are talking about there are usually about 20 milligrams, which is quite a lot but does not reach the limit of 50 milligrams established by the FDA for tuna. But if we go to a poorly preserved dark meat fish, a concentration of up to 400 milligrams of histamine can be reached. Allergic reaction is guaranteed.
It will not be of any use since histamine is resistant to heat, it will not be destroyed no matter how high the temperature is when cooking. That’s why Good refrigeration and conservation is essential from the moment it is caught until it is cooked.