UK: Eat fish twice a week

The United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency on Thursday left its recommendation unchanged and advised consumers to eat fish twice a week.

The healthful benefits of a seafood-rich diet “remain clear,” said the agency, which urged consumers to eat at least two portions of fish a week, one of which should be an oily fish, and to “be adventurous” and try a wider variety of species.

Additionally, the agency for the first time asked consumers to purchase seafood harvested or farmed in a sustainable, environmentally friendly manner and to look for eco-labels when buying fish.

In July, the UK’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee submitted a report to Parliament’s House of Commons outlining the need to balance public health with the sustainability of the world’s fish stocks, bringing into question whether the Food Standards Agency would stick with its eat-fish-twice-a-week recommendation.

But in the end, the agency kept its recommendation, which was applauded by Seafish (the UK Sea Fish Industry Authority) as well as the National Fisheries Institute in the United States.

“Encouraging a fish-rich diet can have dramatic benefits on the health of a nation, and FSA’s recommendations seem to get that,” said Jennifer McGuire a registered dietitian and NFI’s director of nutrition communications. “The advice spotlights working different types of fish in to your diet, which is in line with both sustainability and good health.  More types of fish more often contribute to healthy stocks and a healthy you.”

The Food Standards Agency worked with Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), the Department of Health, Scottish government, Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and Sustainable Consumption Roundtable to update its dietary advice, which is available at the agency’s Web site.

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