Latest reviewed evidence
FDA's Seafood List accepts Sardine or Pilchard for Sardina pilchardus and accepts Sardine or Pilchard for Sardinops sagax, while recording their separate scientific and common identities. Codex CXS 94-1981 applies specifically to canned sardines and sardine-type products, lists permitted species, requires one species per presentation and sets a decomposition criterion of no more than 10 milligrams of histamine per 100 grams based on the average sample unit tested. ISO 12875:2011 specifies information to record through marine-captured finfish chains. EU Regulation 1379/2013 requires applicable consumer products to identify commercial and scientific names, production method, catch area and gear. FDA's fourth-edition seafood hazards guidance identifies product- and process-specific hazard controls; none of these sources is a lot certificate, catch claim or live delivered quotation.
Codex canned-sardine average-sample histamine ceiling
10
milligrams per 100 grams, maximum · Codex CXS 94-1981, amended 2024
Captured-finfish traceability standard edition
1
ISO edition number · ISO 12875:2011, confirmed current in 2025
FDA seafood-hazards guidance edition
4
edition number · FDA June 2022 edition
Sardine identity starts with the exact scientific species
FDA records Sardina pilchardus as European pilchard with the acceptable market name Pilchard or Sardine, while Sardinops sagax is Pacific sardine with Pilchard or Sardine accepted. Codex includes additional species for canned sardine-type products. Atlas retains the scientific species and destination-accepted market name together; it does not transfer an observation, grade or origin from one species to another because both may be sold as sardines.
Catch area, gear, vessel and landing records establish origin
A processor, packer or export country is not the catch origin. Atlas records vessel, catch date and time, FAO area or more precise permitted area, gear category, landing event, first buyer and custody links. ISO 12875 addresses records through marine-captured finfish chains, and EU rules require area and gear information for applicable consumer products. Repacking does not silently replace the harvest record.
Whole, headed, gutted, filleted and canned sardines stay separate
Whole or round fish, headed fish, gutted fish, fillets, canned products, salted products, smoked products and other preparations have different yields, composition, processes and controls. Codex CXS 94 applies to canned sardines and sardine-type products in a packing medium and requires one fish species in a presentation. Atlas therefore records form, cut, packing medium or recipe, drained and net weight, fish proportion where relevant, container and thermal process instead of projecting canned-product rules onto raw or frozen fish.
Fresh, chilled, frozen and shelf-stable states retain distinct evidence
Preservation state changes shelf life, handling and comparability. Atlas records catch-to-chill time, chilling or freezing route, product temperatures, storage and transport, thawing or refreezing controls, canning or other preservation process and arrival condition. A target temperature or commercial-sterility statement is a specification until the exact lot and process records support it.
Histamine controls follow species, time, temperature and process
Codex sets its 10-milligram-per-100-gram average-sample criterion for the canned products within CXS 94. FDA's guidance identifies scombrotoxin or histamine as a relevant hazard for pilchard or sardine species and structures controls around time and temperature exposure. Atlas keeps receiving condition, time-temperature records, sampling plan, sample units, analytical method, laboratory, results and corrective action with the lot; it does not describe the Codex number as a result for untested fish or as a universal destination limit.
Traceability and sustainability claims require separate proof
Captured-fish traceability links catch and product identifiers through each physical trader. A sustainability or fishery-management claim has separate fishery, scope, method, certificate or assessment, validity and chain-of-custody evidence. Atlas records those claims only when linked to the exact species, fishery and lot, and does not infer them from country, catch area or a broad sardine label.
Species and safety references do not establish a delivered sardine price
Identity lists, standards, hazard guidance and traceability records do not establish current availability, grade, transaction value or delivered cost. A defensible estimate still needs permitted current observations for the exact species, catch area and gear, product form, preservation state, size and grade, composition or packing medium, package and lot, quantity, currency, Incoterm, load and destination points, delivery window, cold chain, freight, duties and information vintage. Atlas withholds an estimate when those observations or usage rights are missing.