Cheaper salmon is 'as good as premium for Omega 3'

Cheaper salmon is ‘as good as premium farmed products when it comes to Omega 3’, study shows

  • Fish-eaters benefit from two Omega 3 fatty acids – EPA and DHA – which can boost heart health and thinking skills
  • Researchers analysed packs of farmed Scottish and Norwegian salmon from 10 UK supermarkets
  • The best provided 67% of the recommended weekly Omega 3 but the worst only offered 26%
  • Fillets from two stores did not contain significantly more Omega 3 than non-premium products

Premium farmed salmon may be no healthier than value brands when it comes to Omega 3, a study has shown.

Fish-eaters benefit from two Omega 3 fatty acids – EPA and DHA – which can boost heart health and thinking skills.

Researchers analysed packs of farmed Scottish and Norwegian salmon from 10 UK supermarkets. 

The best provided 67 per cent of the recommended weekly Omega 3 but the worst only offered 26 per cent. 

Fillets from two stores did not contain significantly more Omega 3 than non-premium products.

Premium farmed salmon may be no healthier than value brands when it comes to Omega 3, a study has shown. Fish-eaters benefit from two Omega 3 fatty acids – EPA and DHA – which can boost heart health and thinking skills. (File image)

Farmed salmon tend to be fed a mixture of fish and vegetable oils but the latter lack the fatty acids found in seafood.

Study leader Dr Matthew Sprague, from Stirling University, said: ‘The amount of EPA and DHA can vary based on the cut of salmon, as well as what it was fed, but farmed salmon is still high in nutrients.’

Salmon not only contains Omega 3 but selenium and phosphorus, which are also important for health.

Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: ‘Consumers take various factors into consideration when buying salmon, including its health benefits and the way it is produced, and they will weigh these up when choosing what to purchase in a supermarket.’

Salmon not only contains Omega 3 but selenium and phosphorus, which are also important for health

Phil Brooke, from Compassion in World Farming, said: ‘Intensive fish farming is bad for fish welfare and the product only contains Omega 3 due to the wasteful consumption of feed containing fish oil.’ 

Wild salmon consume only fish oil, which they get from algae and smaller fish, but lose fatty acids from that fish oil, as they become leaner during the migration back from the sea to the river to spawn.

This means farmed fish, which are kept confined in cages within the sea, can contain more Omega 3 than the wild variety.

But vegetable oil is more accessible, sustainable, and also cheaper than fish oil for the expanding fish farming industry.

So more of this can be used, which substantially reduces the amount of Omega 3 in farmed salmon.

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Side effects of Covid can destroy your love life, warns psychologist
Next post The Mail travel team answer readers' holiday questions