|
COPYRIGHT 2006 Australian Consumers' Association
IN A NUTSHELL
* Most frozen fish products won't do much to boost your intake of omega-3 fats. The fish that's used is usually white fish (often hoki or hake), which is low in these fats.
* Although quick and easy to prepare, even the most basic frozen fish products can cost more per kilogram offish than more interesting fresh fish from a fish shop or your supermarket's deli counter.
Fish is a healthier alternative to meat and most of us should be eating more of it--two or three fish meals a week according to the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Fish is an excellent source of protein, contains essential vitamins (particularly A and D) and minerals (such as iodine), and the more oily types of fish are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids that are good for your heart (see Omega-3 basics, page 20). And unlike fatty meat products, even oily fish is low in saturated fat.
Do frozen fish meals stack up on all these counts? They're certainly an easy option for a quick meal and you'll get the benefits of protein, vitamins and minerals. But you could be missing out on your omega-3s and these processed fish products cost more than you might think.
FISHING TRIP
There's no lack of choice. Focusing on products that are just fish, crumbed or battered fish, or fish with flavourings or a sauce, we found nearly 50 different frozen fish products in the major supermarkets (and this didn't include the more humble versions such as fishcakes and fish fingers).
In the table (page 21) we've ranked them by the percentage of fish they contain according to their labels--how much actual fish you're getting for your money. Six products stand out as having 90% or more (see What to buy, left). But many brands have a lot less.
You'd expect products that are crumbed and battered to have a slightly lower percentage of fish, but some of the brands of fish with sauce have even less than they do. The LEAN CUISINE Purely Fish and SEAWAYS Fish in Sauce ranges came bottom of the league with only 48% fish.
A HEALTHY CATCH?
None of the products in this test contains much saturated fat (see the table for details), so they're all a healthy choice in this regard. But they aren't a good source of omega-3 fats unless you choose one of the BIRDS EYE Atlantic salmon meals or one of the products made from oreo dory (SEALORD Catch of the Day Deep Sea Dory Light Crispy Crumb and BIRDS EYE Deep Sea Dory).
Almost all frozen fish products are made from hoki or hake, or else the label just says 'white fish' (which generally means one or other of the same two species). White fish is low in fat and low in omega-3s in particular, go if you're serious about eating fish to boost your intake of omega-3s, you could be better off buying fresh oily fish (like salmon)...
Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.
|
Bookmark this article
Print this article
Link to this article
Email this article
Digg It!
Add to del.icio.us
RSS
