Scale up production of authentic fish sauce by enzyme accelerated fermentation

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This proposal is to extend recently completed NSERC Engage & NSERC Engage Plus collaborative research projects between the PI and the industrial partner (Neptune, 3349559 Canada Inc.). The overall goal of the Engage projects was to develop novel and cost-effective technologies to produce authentic and safe fermented fish sauce from underutilized fish species and create new opportunities to grow the company. Fish sauce is an amber-colored liquid with a distinct intense flavor and is traditionally made from fermentation of low value fish and fish byproducts. It is used as a condiment in cuisines of several Southeast and East Asia countries. The fermented product is typically mixed with other ingredients to "mellow" the harsh taste and aroma, to form an intense savory finished product that can add a lush umami-flavor to foods. The population of Asian immigrants in North America has been growing steadily, resulting in increasing demands for fish sauce in Canada and the US. Fish sauces from Thailand and Vietnam are the products commonly found in supermarkets in North America. However, not all the fish sauce on the market is authentic, and various food and health regulatory agencies have reported fake and counterfeit types. For example, the U.S. FDA recently banned an adulterated fish sauce, "pairoj", for reasons including non-compliance with FDA's HACCP requirements for controlling hazards of botulism and histamine; unsafe product handling, preparation, and packaging. According to the industrial partner, the local market has keen interest in a Canadian made fish sauce versus varieties on the market from Asian countries for unhygienic and safety reasons. The company initially identified 5 abundant but underutilized fish species (capelin, gaspereaux, squid, Atlantic herring and mackerel) in the Engage projects for producing the fish sauce for the domestic and export markets; and in comparative studies the lab products were adjudged to be superior to a well-known product on the market, i.e., Red Boat. This proposed follow-up research is to scale up production of the fish sauce to enable adjustments of processing parameters to better suit commercial production