Seafood is an important food source for many. Consumers should be entitled to an informed choice, and there is growing concern about correct composition labeling of seafood. Due to its high price, it has been shown to be vulnerable to adulteration. In the present study, we focus on moisture levels in seafood. Moisture and crude protein contents of chilled and frozen cod, pangasius, salmon, shrimp and tilapia purchased from various retail outlets in the Netherlands were examined by reference methods and the values of which were compared with the reported data from other studies in literature. Significant differences in proximate composition were determined for different species and between chilled and frozen products of the same species. Pangasius products showed the highest moisture contents in general (86.3 g/100 g), and shrimp products revealed the largest differences between chilled and frozen products. Comparison with literature values and good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards exposed that, generally, chilled pangasius, frozen pangasius and frozen shrimp products presented considerably higher moisture and lower crude protein/nitrogen contents than those found in other studies. From the GMP standards, extraneous water was estimated on average at 26 g/100 g chilled pangasius product, and 25 and 34 g/100 g product for frozen shrimp and pangasius products, respectively.
Keywords: cod; crude protein; fish; moisture; pangasius; salmon; shrimp; tilapia; water.