brixham sea farms .

As Hylda Baker would have said. At a local fish and music festival while wandering around the various stalls I noticed a bowl of mussels sat in water , there was a health mark alongside the bowl of mussels with the relevant information as to the source and date. I asked one of the cooks why the mussels were sat in a bowl of mussels, and he replied it was to purge them.?? I pointed out they had been through a depuration process of a minimum of 42 hours in a tank which had been tested by the CEFAS authority from Weymouth as being suitable to depurate mussels . The cook said it was also because someone may have handled them? It was obvious the conversation was not going to achieve anything so I told him I was going to take a picture of the bowl of mussels sat in water. The mussels will know they are in fresh water (as Hylda Baker would have said “They know you know”) They will not open in water which is less than 12 parts per thousand of salt, and from our experience they like to be in salt water with a salinity of 42 parts per thousand salt to water. The whole point of the CEFAS approved tanks is to ensure that shellfish which go through the depuration process are fit for human consumption. Putting mussels in a bowl of water will render the health mark which accompanies all shellfish Invalid.