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BY DR MARTIN JAFFA
Not just another fish
Salmon offers, arguably, the best way to persuade consumers to eat more oily fish
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CCORDING to a new survey commissioned by Food Standards Scotland, Scots are ea�ng less than a quarter of their recommended dietary requirement of oily fish. The survey was conducted by researchers from Abertay University who found that the average intake of oil rich fish was 33g per person per week. This compares against a recommended intake of 140g. Food Standards Scotland have said that there has been li�le change in the consump�on of oily fish in Scotland since 2001, but it should be men�oned that consump�on of oily fish in the rest of the UK is not much be�er. Unfortunately, the report does not seem to be in the public domain, so it is impossible to delve deeper into the findings, especially which fish presenta�ons were included in the survey, and which were not. Na�onal measurements of fish consump�on typically include all presenta�ons such as ambient, chilled, and frozen. Tuna remains popular in the UK, only because it is available in a wide range of �nned and pouched presenta�on. By comparison, most salmon is sold fresh or chilled. The two products serve very different consumer needs. Headlines like “Scots ea�ng less than a quarter of their recommended oily
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fish” will usually bring to mind fresh fish that might be found on the fishmonger’s counter rather than �nned fish such as tuna. Consump�on of all fresh and chilled fish has been falling for well over a decade. There was a resurgence in consump�on of these fish when the first lockdown was announced but over the two years since, consump�on has been in slow decline. The only fish to buck this trend is salmon. Above: Salmon on fish Last year the volume of fresh chilled salmon consumed increased in the UK by 7.8%. Sales have counter Right: Tinned tuna gone up by nearly 5% whereas sales in the overall fish market fell by 0.2%. My own calcula�on is that in terms of oily fish, the volume sold in the UK accounts for 85% of oily fish consump�on. By comparison, consump�on of other species such as tuna and herring hardly feature at all. Salmon now dominates the fish sector, and it
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11/04/2022 15:18:09
