I purchased a quantity of 'fresh' fish and put it into the freezer, I now find a message on the back saying do not re freeze, previously frozen. The fish was not frozen when bought. What are the dangers of defrosting and cooking such fish?

Firstly, we always recommend that you should follow the instructions on the manufacturers packaging.

We suspect that the manufacturers cannot be certain of how long someone might leave the defrosted fish at room temperature for, before refreezing. It might be for this reason that they are asking you not to do this at all – to be cautious. Of all the food types, fish is more perishable than most and therefore greater care should always be taken with it. Don’t forget that the freezing process actually stops the growth of bacteria so is usually ‘fresher’ than chilled or canned foods. When buying frozen foods you can be confident that quality checks are in place to ensure that it is frozen as soon as possible after harvest / catch. Indeed some frozen fish is very fresh because it is frozen on board the fishing boat itself!

If the fish was freshly frozen by a frozen food manufacturer or retailer then the chart below should help you find out how long you can store frozen fish:

These figures refer to commercially frozen products; food frozen at home is unlikely to remain of high quality for the same length of time.

Thanks!The New Ice Age Team