ABSTRACT
The Quality Index Method (QIM) is a sensory analysis using a category scale, where the scheme measures the degree and rate of change in important criteria and in the sum total of these changes, which can be interpreted into equivalent days of storage and remaining shelf life. The development of the first QIM schemes were based on the work by Bremner [1] and are for whole fish stored in ice. There are now also QIM schemes developed for cod and plaice fillet [2,3] and for frozen cod [4–6]. The QIM scheme for frozen cod measures the storage history [5]. The QIM schemes have been developed from the viewpoint of the industry and from technical research, but there have also been studies on developing a version for the consumer QIM (C-QIM; C for consumer) [7,8]. C-QIM is not an acceptance test, but a tool for decision making for the consumer buying fish in a market or at the fishmonger [9].
