Will Americans heed new consumption advice?

It’s no coincidence that salmon is prominently featured among fruits, vegetables and whole grains on the cover of the federal government’s revised Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010. Released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in late January, the new recommendations advise Americans to double the amount of seafood they eat because of its health benefits.

That news comes as no surprise to seafood industry experts. Anyone who’s hauled a net, crewed a trawler, waited on customers from behind a counter, or served up steaming platefuls of clams, crabs and lobster knows the value of their product.

Yet, U.S. per-capita consumption of seafood has declined since 2004, when the average American ate 16.6 pounds of fish and shellfish. By 2009, that figure slipped to 15.8 pounds. The latest decline was due to a decrease in the amount of canned seafood consumed, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Worldwide, the United States is the third-largest seafood market, behind China and Japan. Americans consumed a total of 4.833 billion pounds of seafood in 2009, slightly less than the 4.858 billion pounds in 2008.

Although industry experts say it’s too early to detect any changes in the buying or eating patterns of American consumers, the new dietary guidelines hold the promise of reversing that seven-year downward trend with seafood-specific recommendations like these:

• Eat a variety of seafood products in place of some meat and poultry.

• Adults should eat 8 or more ounces of seafood per week, which equals about 20 percent of the total recommendation for protein foods. Young children should eat less.

• Seafood contains omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Moderate evidence shows that eating the recommended amount is associated with reduced cardiac deaths among individuals with and without pre-existing cardiovascular disease.

• Seafood consumption is particularly important for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, because moderate evidence indicates that  DHA is associated with improved infant health outcomes, such as visual and cognitive development. These women should eat at least 8 and up to 12 ounces of seafood each week, selecting species that are lower in methylmercury, such as salmon, anchovies, herring, sardines, Pacific oysters, trout and Atlantic and Pacific mackerel.

• The health benefits from eating a variety of seafood in the recommended amounts outweigh the health risks associated with methylmercury, moderate evidence shows.

Click here to read the rest of the story, which was written by SeaFood Business Contributing Editor Stuart Hirsch and appeared in the magazine’s April issue. 

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