Tuna Can Harbor Histamine-Producing Bacteria

Tuna fish may carry bacteria that, even at lowered temperatures, grow and retain histidine decarboxylase (HDC) enzyme activity, raising questions about the potential for those enzymes producing histamines in refrigerated fresh tuna, according to Kristin Bjornsdottir-Butler, of the Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory, a Food and Drug Administration research facility on Dauphin Island, Ala., and her collaborators. These cold-tolerant, histamine-producing bacteria are indigenous to the fish, not contaminants introduced during handling, the researchers note. Details appeared 29 January 2016 in Applied and Environmental Microbiology (doi:10.1128/AEM.02833–15/).