ABSTRACT
Quality and freshness as applied to seafoods are both concepts, not speci c entities or things. They share some common aspects, but quality can refer to a much broader range of properties and characteristics, some of which may be more readily measurable, e.g., size, weight, and shape. They both suffer from overuse and from meanings that slip from one sense to another. Scientists and seafood technologists tend to use the words interchangeably in two main senses:
1. In the sense that they are some ineffable, inherent characteristic that may comply with an imaginary ideal
2. In the sense of an individual property, or a set of properties, and in compliance to external standards or requirements
The industry invariably uses the words in both senses at once, whereas advertisers and marketers use them more in the rst sense to convey image and desirability in order to entice purchase.
