Less than half of the European dietary recommendations for fish consumption are satisfied by national seafood supplies

Abstract

Purpose To review the seafood dietary recommendations of European countries and compare them to national seafood supplies. Methods Current seafood dietary recommendations were collated from national health authorities across Europe. Food balance sheets were downloaded from the FAO, and appropriate conversion factors were applied to each seafood commodity. Average net per capita seafood supplies from 2007 to 2017 were derived from data on imports and production for food from both capture fisheries and aquaculture, accounting for exports. Results Both national dietary recommendations and seafood supplies varied considerably throughout Europe. At a national level, on a per capita basis, only 13 out of the 31 of European dietary recommendations for fish consumption were satisfied by national seafood supplies. Most of the countries with coastal access, as well as those with traditional fish-eating cultures, such as France and countries in Northern Europe, had adequate seafood supplies to meet their recommendations. The landlocked countries of Central and Eastern Europe did not have enough seafood supplies to satisfy their recommendations. Conclusions Our findings emphasise the need to not only consider consumer health outcomes when developing and advocating dietary recommendations, but also the sustainability of food production systems. As many foods are not necessarily locally sourced but traded as part of global production and distribution systems, it is important to consider greater consistency between national dietary recommendations to facilitate more sustainable marine food systems.

The influence on fish and seafood consumption, and the attitudes and reasons for its consumption in the Croatian population

“…To describe habits of fish and seafood consumption among sociodemographic subgroups of participants, the proportion and means of fish and seafood consumption were calculated and tested for differences with one-way ANOVA test for continuous variables, or with the Chi-Square test for sociodemographic subgroups. The Chi-square test was used for differences between subgroups of participants based on their habitual fish consumption regarding recommended fish intake (Lofstedt et al, 2021) for their attitudes, choices and reasons for consuming fish and seafood and farmed fish. The quantification of the influence of the individual factors is expressed by the odds ratio calculated with the logistic regression method.…”

“…Based on European dietary recommendations for fish consumption (Lofstedt et al, 2021), the moderate to high fish consumption group (MHFI) consumed statistically 2.5 more fish per week (511.12 ± 410.77 g) than the very low to low fish consumption group (VLFI) group (206.05 ± 172.95 g, p < 0.001) (data not shown). The MHFI group consumed statistically significantly more fresh fish than the VLFI group (79.5 vs. 57.9%, p < 0.001).…”

“…The adherence to MD has categorized into three levels; ≤5 points which meant low adherence, from 6 to 9 points which meant moderate adherence and ≥10 points which meant high adherence to MD. To explore differences in attitudes, opinions, and reasons toward fish and seafood consumption regarding habits of fish consumption, the participants were divided into two groups: the very low to low fish intake group (VLFI; i.e., <1 serving/month to 1 serving/week) and to moderate to high fish intake group (MHFI; i.e., 2-5 servings/week), based on the European dietary recommendations for fish consumption (Lofstedt et al, 2021), where one serving of fish is 130 g.…”

Quantifying socio‐economic novelty in fisheries social‐ecological systems

“…Nonetheless, the reform of the CFP in 2013 aimed to reduce this dependence by increasing the EU's supply in the market (Council Regulation, 2013). It might be possible for northern European countries but not yet applied (Lofstedt et al, 2021). In addition, novelty F I G U R E 7 Median novelty relative to the 1975-1979 baseline in terms of quantity and value, for the five components: gears, commercial groups, import, export, and all-factors.…”

Consumption of Farmed Fish, Fed with an Olive-Pomace Enriched Diet, and Its Effect on the Inflammatory, Redox, and Platelet-Activating Factor Enzyme Profile of Apparently Healthy Adults: A Double-Blind Randomized Crossover Trial

“…Studies have linked frequent fish consumption or fish oil supplementation with the amelioration of the biomarkers of cardiovascular health [ 1 , 2 ]. Current guidelines throughout the western world vary considerably; European countries recommend between 100 and 500 g of seafood per capita per week [ 3 ] while the FDA recommends around 225 g seafood per capita per week [ 4 ]. Specific guidelines are issued in relation to heart diseases; both the American Heart Association (AHA) [ 5 ] and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) [ 6 ] recommend the consumption of two portions of fish per week (150 g/portion), which may provide up to 2 g of eicosapentanoic (EPA) and docosahexanoic (DHA) acids.…”