For Cod’s sake! Brits should eat mussels and kippers to meet dietary fish advice, experts say

Britons should eat mussels and kippers to get the amount of fish recommended by the government for good health.

A YouGov survey commissioned by the Marine Stewardship Council shows that only one in five Britons (19 per cent) follow the government’s recommended guideline to eat seafood twice a week or more and only one in four (26 per cent) eat fish once a week.

But the failure to eat fish on Friday or any other day of the week means they are missing out on vital nutrients.

Eating more fish could help prevent deficiencies in important nutrients such as zinc, calcium, iron and vitamin B12.

More than three million people in the UK, for instance, suffer from B12 deficiency which can lead to poor memory, fatigue and cognitive impairment, the charity warns.

However if everyone in the UK ate their recommended amount of seafood each week an additional 750,000 tonnes of seafood would be required annually, which is nearly the same as what the UK currently consumes. Current consumption in the UK is 887,000 tonnes of seafood – equivalent to 5.2 billion portions of fish and chips by weight.

The MSC warn that if eating fish increases, as the government recommends, it will lead to overfishing.

Currently the UK consumes 152,000 tonnes of sustainably caught seafood, as certified by the MSC.

The MSC recommends eating mussels sold at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Lidl, and Aldi as ‘one of the lowest carbon seafoods, while also containing more iron per gram than beef’, nutrients such as vitamin B12, selenium, chloride, zinc, phosphorus.

Other good sustainable options include ‘the traditional British kipper’ and Cornish sardines.

George Clark, MSC’s UK Programme Director said: ‘While people should try to eat the recommended two portions of seafood each week for their health, it’s only when they choose sustainable seafood that they will help protect the environment too.

‘In the UK we have some incredible fisheries and communities that have achieved MSC certification, such as Cornish hake, Shetland brown crab and Poole Harbour clams. There’s a fantastic variety of choices for locally and imported fish and seafood in the UK, and great, sustainable choices to make that are both delicious and nutritious.’