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Review
. 2021 Aug 26;13(9):2970.
doi: 10.3390/nu13092970.

Analyses and Declarations of Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Canned Seafood May Help to Quantify Their Dietary Intake

Peter Singer  1 , Volker Richter  2 , Konrad Singer  3 , Iris Löhlein  1
Affiliations
Review

Analyses and Declarations of Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Canned Seafood May Help to Quantify Their Dietary Intake

Peter Singer et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

The American Heart Association (AHA) recently confirmed common recommendations of one to two fish dishes per week in order to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD). Nevertheless, the natural fluctuations of lipids and fatty acids (FA) in processed seafood caught little public attention. Moreover, consumers of unprocessed seafood in general do not know how much omega-3 fatty acids (omega-3 FA) within servings they actually ingest. The few studies published until today considering this aspect have been re-evaluated in today's context. They included four observational studies with canned fatty coldwater fish (mackerel and herring from the same region, season, producer and research group). Their outcomes were similar to those conducted in the following years using supplements. Cans containing seafood (especially fatty coldwater fish) with declared content of omega-3 FA are ready-to-use products. Human studies have shown a higher bioavailability of omega-3 FA by joint uptake of fat. Canned fatty coldwater fish contain omega-3 FA plus plenty of fat in one and the same foodstuff. That suggests a new dietary paradigm with mixed concepts including several sources with declared content of omega-3 FA for reducing the cardiovascular risk and other acknowledged indications.

Keywords: CVD; canned seafood; coldwater fish; declarations of quantity; mixed concepts; omega-3 fatty acids; regional and seasonal variations of fatty acids.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Serum TG of individual patients with HLP types IIa, IV and V before and two weeks after an isocaloric diet including canned mackerel (2 cans/day over 2 weeks), control 3 months later on habitual diet; modified after [25].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Example of two cans from the same manufacturer containing herring fillet in vegetable sauce derived from the same region (Northern Atlantic). Different amounts of omega-3 FA declared on the reverse side of the cans: 0.5 g/100 g (above) and 2.4 g/100 g (below)—presumably harvested and produced in different seasons (dates of fishing were uncertain), compare Table 1; random purchases in a German supermarket—from the years 2017 and 2019, respectively.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Suggestions of canned seafood being suited to dietary practice and future research.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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