For Cod’s sake! Brits should eat mussels and kippers to meet dietary fish advice, experts say
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Because of cod! Britons should eat mussels and kippers to meet fish advice, experts say
- A survey shows that only one in five Britons eat seafood twice a week or more
- The results also show that only 26 percent of Britons eat fish once a week
- Eating more fish can help prevent zinc, calcium, iron and B12 deficiencies
Britons should eat mussels and kippers to get the amount of fish recommended by the government for good health.
A YouGov survey commissioned by the Marine Stewardship Council shows that only one in five Britons (19 percent) follow the government-recommended guideline to eat seafood twice a week or more and only one in four (26 percent) eat fish once a week.
But if they don’t eat fish on Friday or any other day of the week, they’re missing out on essential nutrients.
Eating more fish can help prevent deficiencies in important nutrients such as zinc, calcium, iron and vitamin B12.
For example, more than three million people in the UK suffer from B12 deficiency, which can lead to poor memory, fatigue and cognitive impairment, the charity warns.
Britons should eat mussels and herring to get the amount of fish recommended for good health
However, if everyone in the UK ate the recommended amount of fish each week, an additional 750,000 tonnes of fish would be needed each year, which is almost the same as what the UK currently consumes. Current consumption in the UK is 887,000 tonnes of seafood – equivalent to 5.2 billion servings of fish and chips by weight.
The MSC warns that if fish consumption increases, as the government recommends, it will lead to overfishing.
Currently, the UK consumes 152,000 tonnes of sustainably caught fish, as certified by the MSC.
The MSC recommends eating mussels sold at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Lidl and Aldi as “one of the lowest carbon seafood, while also containing more iron per gram than beef”, nutrients such as vitamin B12, selenium, chloride , zinc, phosphorus .
Other good sustainable options include the traditional British kipper and Cornish sardines.
George Clark, MSC’s UK Program Director said: ‘While people should try to eat the recommended two servings of fish a week for their health, choosing sustainable fish will only help protect the environment.
‘In the UK we have some fantastic fisheries and communities that are MSC certified, such as Cornish hake, Shetland brown crab and Poole Harbor shells. There is a fantastic variety of choices for local and imported fish and seafood in the UK, and there are great, sustainable choices to be had that are both delicious and nutritious.’