Off-flavours in fish were studied from 1969 to 1981 at the Food Research Laboratory of the Technical Research Centre of Finland using sensory methods. In all, 1982 samples of 18 species of Finnish fish, most of them suspected of being tainted, were studied. A trained taste panel scoring on a numerical scale of 0-10, where a score of 5 or less was unacceptable, was used. The off-flavours described were oil, kraft pulp mill effluent, sewage (musty), muddy, rancid, and others. Of all these samples, 34.9% were unacceptable. The most common off-flavour was kraft pulp mill effluent, present in 41.2 % of the unacceptable samples. In acceptable fish slight off-flavours were somet imes found. Of the muddy fish, only 35.2 % of the bream and 28.8 % of the northern pike were unacceptable. The panel was able to discriminate between the different off-flavours, but, in some cases, the boundaries were vague.
