Grocery Store Shrimp Isn't As Fresh As You Might Think

Grocery stores meticulously strategize orders around the shelf life of foods and implement backup plans should products not sell as fast as predicted. That includes a few tricks regarding how they make inventory look appealing, like when grocery stores use older produce on salad bars. More often than not, this isn't something that will negatively affect your shopping experience, but if you see "fresh" shrimp sitting in the seafood display case, it is probably best to turn around and walk away.

Although it may look fine, that shrimp is undoubtedly not fresh unless you're shopping along the coast. When you see those crustaceans laying out on a pile of ice, that is a sure sign they were recently defrosted. The problem isn't that it was frozen in the first place, but rather that the seafood will now only be good for about two days.

This means that the chances of securing truly fresh shellfish in a landlocked state are nominal. More bluntly, grocery store shrimp on ice are decaying as you look on, even more so if the head is still attached. That's because an enzyme there makes the flesh of the body soft and spongy if it's left on for too long. As enticing as fresh shrimp may be, it is best to buy it frozen if you want the best quality — although how it is frozen matters.

Most folks typically look for the freshest meat they can get their hands on in the grocery store, but when it comes to seafood, that's rarely an option. Shrimp is one of the few foods in the supermarket you actually want to buy frozen to avoid purchasing a subpar product. Among that group, the individually quick frozen (IQF) variety is the best choice. IQF shrimp is – as the name implies — frozen individually and soon after being caught. In terms of flavor and texture, it is as close as you can get to fresh.

There are other benefits to the IQF process, too. Many brands of grocery store shrimp are frozen in a block, making it difficult to thaw only what you need for an enticing seafood dish. With IQF shrimp, you can thaw out what you need and boil it, bake it, or even potentially throw the shrimp on the grill with the shell attached for extra flavor. 

Because it is frozen soon after being harvested, whole shrimp also benefits from the IQF technique because the enzyme in the head hasn't had time to do its work. Besides, if you take a chance on the "fresh" shrimp on ice, you might take one whiff of the seafood a couple of days later and decide you are better off with one of the grocery store's frozen pizzas.