In a recent poll carried out in the U.K., half of the people questioned said they were not buying fish or seafood because it was too expensive. Meanwhile Public Health England has reported that children in the U.K. are eating a mere 11 grams of oily fish each per week. This means they could be at serious risk of contracting rickets because of Vitamin D deficiency.
It was thought that rickets, which causes a softening of developing bones leading to serious deformities, had been eradicated in the U.K., but it is now making a comeback. A recent report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said there are a growing number of cases of rickets in children and babies that can be directly linked to the lack of Vitamin D in their diets.
It’s not just children who are failing to eat enough oily fish in the U.K. According to Public Health England, no one age group in the country meets the government’s recommended weekly intake of 140 grams.
Not surprisingly, although this is a danger sign for the future of the seafood industry, it is people above the age of 65 years who are eating the most oily fish at 103 grams for men and 81 grams for women. In the next age group down, 19-64 years, men are consuming 52 grams of oily fish per week and women are eating 54 grams.
It is disappointing that more is not being done to encourage people, particularly the younger generation, to eat seafood. It’s not just rickets in children that can be caused by not eating sufficient oily fish. Species such as salmon, tuna and mackerel are rich in omega-3 fatty acids which have been proven to help prevent the onset of coronary heart disease which kills one in three adults in the U.K.
Individual seafood processors such as Young’s Seafood promote their own products, particularly when they launch new lines. Pete Ward, Young’s deputy chief executive, has said he hoped Young’s Funky Fish Kitchen line of prepared retail fish products “can inspire people to change their eating habits, and improve the numbers.”
However, it will take more than new fish product lines to make U.K. consumers seriously increase their seafood intake.
At present, the only messages about seafood getting through to the general public are about the safeguarding of wild fish stocks, and lists are being published of species to avoid.
]Supermarkets, where the bulk of British consumers do their food shopping, are falling over themselves to demonstrate that their fish counters only carry fish from sustainable sources. This is despite the fact that the majority of their customers are probably not too bothered where the fish comes from, or how it was caught, as long as it looks good and they can afford to buy it.
In the survey showing that fish was regarded as being too expensive, carried out for The Grocer, only 16 percent of respondents said they would eat more fish if it was “more environmentally friendly.”
Aquaculture consultant Martin Jaffa of Callander McDowell believes that the whole fish and seafood industry has been distracted by the sustainability issue. “The industry is channelling all its efforts into appeasing the environmental lobby,” he said. “The consumer has been forgotten as companies make efforts to be seen to be heading down the road to sustainability.
“If we want the public to eat more fish, then the industry must take a much more active role and invest in marketing and promotion. Just imagine if the huge sums spent on certifying products as sustainable were spent on marketing, then how much better armed the industry could be to fight apathy to fish consumption.”
However, he added a tongue in cheek comment: “Then again, perhaps this emphasis on sustainability is part of a great plan to reduce consumption and thus reduce the fishing pressure on wild stocks making them more sustainable!!!”
