Restaurants and retailers should step up their promotions of seafood in February – the American Heart Association’s (AHA) American Heart Month.
Heart Month provides a perfect opportunity to educate consumers about the health benefits of fish — including its low-fat, low-calorie profile — and offer recipes and preparations that are heart-healthy.
Dallas-based Fish City Grill is going all out for American Heart Month with its launch of a “Fit Fish” heart-healthy menu. Fish City partnered with the hospital Medical City in Dallas; it determined which of the chain’s offerings could be featured on the Fit Fish menu.
“The new menu came out on 1 January, to coincide with helping people to follow through on their New Year’s resolutions, and will be a permanent part of the menu,” said Bill Bayne, the company’s president and chief seafood officer.
Entrees featured on the Fit Fish menu include Blackened Rainbow Trout, Catfish Dinner, Shrimp Dinner, grilled or blackened Fish City Sandwich and Chicken Breast Dinner. The meat and seafood dishes are served with a choice of healthy sides, including steamed veggies, white rice and Virginia’s Apple Cider Cole Slaw.
Fish City sourced Scottish and Norwegian farmed salmon, which Bayne says contains higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than wild salmon. The trout, also high in omega-3s, is from Idaho.
Fish City is also running a “Fit Fish” promotion in January and February, with additional “better for you” items featured on table tents.
“We do not [display] the actual nutritional information on the promoted items, but we have chosen healthy ingredients ... and proper portion sizes,” said Bayne.
Featured seafood dishes on the table tents include Grilled Salmon Mediterranean Whole Wheat Pasta, Farmers Market Salad with Shrimp, Campfire Red Ruby Trout and Ahi Tuna Appetizer.
Meanwhile, Des Moines, Iowa-based supermarket chain Hy-Vee is featuring heart-healthy recipes from its chefs, along with shopping tips and nutrition information as part of the AHA’s “Go Red for Women” campaign. The campaign aims to educate consumers about how to prevent cardiovascular disease in women.
Five of Hy-Vee’s female chefs developed heart-healthy recipes, including a seafood dish: Baked Salmon with Citrus Dried Cherry Quinoa.
Earlier this week, the U.S. government released its 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. And, for the first time, it is advising all Americans, including pregnant and breastfeeding women, to eat seafood at least twice a week for heart and brain benefits. Previously, the twice-a-week recommendation was limited to heart patients.
