Seafood products in France should benefit from a new health message published by the state that encourages consumers to boost their fish protein consumption.
Specifically, the country's newly formed health security agency, Ansés, concludes that fish covers the long-chain omega-3 fatty acid needs of France's 60 million people.
As such, the agency is pushing the eat-seafood-twice-a-week message, encouraging consumers to eat fish rich in omega-3s, such as sardines or herring, and lean fish like pollock, cod, ling and hake.
Embracing the potential role of fish in disease prevention, the agency attested that "fish are sources of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA, and docosahexaenoic acid or DHA) that can prevent cardiovascular diseases and are necessary for the development and function of the retina, brain and nervous system."
Ansés makes the distinction between the varying levels of long-chain omega-3 content. Listed in its recommendations are fatty fish with more than 2 percent fat — like salmon and mackerel — with an omega-3 content of 3 grams out of a 100-gram portion.
"Lean fish" are defined by the agency as containing 0.3 grams per 100 grams of EPA and DHA, with less than 2 percent fat content; these fish include whiting, hake and canned tuna.
In addition to the omega-3 recommendation, Ansés outlined that fish also provide minerals such as phosphorus, and trace elements such as iodine, zinc, copper, selenium and fluoride, as well as vitamins A, D, E and some from the B group that are essential for health.
But with a nod towards potential environmental contaminants, the new agency — unveiled last month, the result of a merger between France's food-safety authority, Afssa, and the environment body Afsse — advises that consumers limit their consumption of PCB ‘bioaccumulating' fish (barbel, bream, carp, catfish) to once a week. They recommend that shoppers vary the species and sources of the fish they consume.
INCA 2, a study organized last year by Afssa, suggests French fish consumption is stable yet there is the potential to augment the weekly meal frequency.
The figures from the study found that 79 percent of adults and 78 percent of children eat fish once a week. Adults consume, on average, about 26.5 grams of fish a day, and children 18.3 grams, with men and women eating the same.
