Between December 2004 and June 2005, 16 outbreaks and incidents of scombrotoxic fish poisoning (SFP) - histamine- were reported to the British Health Protection Agency (HPA) from several regions within England and Wales.
Thirty-eight people were ill, three of whom were admitted to hospital. This seasonal increase is unusual, as outbreaks are more likely to occur during warmer weather after consumption of fish that has been improperly stored, handled, and prepared (1).
The outbreaks were associated with 16 catering premises (sandwich shops, restaurants, hotels) and one domestic setting – 14 were caused by consumption of tuna. Six of the catering premises were supplied with tuna from the same supplier in sealed foil vacuum packs that had low levels of histamine (<30ppm), but remnants of tuna and prepared food (eg tuna mayonnaise) contained toxic levels (>3000ppm).
This suggests poor food handling and inadequate refrigeration during storage at these premises after the tuna packs were opened. In one of the other outbreaks, toxic histamine levels (>1970 ppm) were present in both sealed packs of raw and cooked tuna indicative of poor temperature control at some stage post-harvest, storage, or transportation. Maintenance of microbiological quality of fish post harvest until the moment of consumption is essential if SFP associated with fish is to be avoided.
Between 1992 and 2004, 56 outbreaks of scombrotoxic fish poisoning (SFP) were reported in