The supply chain of fresh fish is complex and increasingly global, and as a result data about quality and safety is often dubious or non-existent. DNV Research has developed the VeriFish tool in order to help suppliers and buyers to verify product information and to assess the quality and safety of fresh fish.

Our approach is to support customers to select fish suppliers who provide fish with high quality and correct product information, and to visualise for the producers how deviations in the supply chain can lead to increased food quality and safety risks.

The VeriFish tool comprises three modules: essential traceability data, a predictive model of spoilage bacteria in fish, and an analysis method for verification. This tool provides a good indication of the time-temperature-contamination history of the fish along the farm-to-fork chain, which is essential for quality and safety. VeriFish has so far been developed to a prototype protocol, and has been tested on a number of fish species.

New trends in food introduce new challenges for producers and customers, requiring tools to verify quality and safety. When the fish is no longer prepared by traditional heating techniques, new potential risks must be considered. Examples of such trends are the increased consume of sushi and ready-to-use products in many countries. DNV Research is involved in the FishRiskList, a joint industry programme partly financed by The Norwegian Research Council, focusing on new risk elements of Listeria in fish processing and adaption of fish products for current food trends. The intention is to implement results obtained in these projects into VeriFish.