Nutrition Archives - Saving Seafood

How a Small Gulf Fish is Transforming Pet Health

June 9, 2025 — From grain-free kibble to gourmet treats, the pet food aisle has transformed dramatically in the past decade. Pet owners are reading labels more closely than ever, seeking natural, nutritious ingredients that support their pets’ long-term health. Surprisingly, one of the most valuable ingredients behind many top-tier pet foods doesn’t come from a lab or a farm. It comes from the Gulf.

Meet Gulf menhaden, a small, oily fish caught off Louisiana’s coast. Processed into nutrient-rich oil and high-protein fishmeal, menhaden is a foundational ingredient in premium pet foods across the U.S. and beyond. While not a household name, the benefits it brings to millions of dogs and cats are profound—and growing.

Menhaden’s Nutritional Superpowers

Menhaden is prized for its natural abundance of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly DHA and EPA. These long-chain omega-3s are essential for joint health, immune function, and brain development in pets. Because pets can’t produce these nutrients on their own, their diets must supply them—making menhaden oil a critical source.

The benefits are wide-ranging. Omega-3s support shiny coats, healthy skin, cardiovascular health, and reduced inflammation. They are especially beneficial for aging pets and developing puppies and kittens. In fact, pet food manufacturers increasingly prioritize ingredients that promote specific health outcomes, making menhaden fishmeal and oil a go-to for functional formulas.

Read the full article at NOLA.com

International Coalition of Fisheries Associations Launches Resource to Amplify Seafood’s Nutritional Benefits

June 2, 2025 — The following was released by the International Coalition of Fisheries Associations:

The International Coalition of Fisheries Associations (ICFA) launched its Seafood Nutrition Toolkit, providing resources for its members to communicate the nutritional benefits of seafood around the globe.

ICFA, a coalition of the national fish and seafood industry associations from the world’s major fishing nations, worked together with its counterpart, the Global Seafood Communicators (GSC), a group dedicated to advancing effective communication within the seafood sector, to construct a resource that assists ICFA and its members in communicating unified messaging on seafood’s health benefits to a wealth of audiences.

“The toolkit aims to bring the global seafood community together and use unified messaging to combat misinformation and promote seafood’s health benefits” GSC Chair Fiona MacMillan said. “The materials on ICFA’s website are available to those who want to join our efforts to promote the consumption of such a healthy protein.”

The materials and their messaging was derived from a scientific review, “The Health Benefits of Eating Seafood,” authored by Dr. Wendy Hunt, Murdoch University (Australia), and Professor Alexandra McManus, Curtin University (Australia), and focuses on 21 topic areas that seafood benefits, including cardiovascular health, mental health, maternal health, fertility, cancer prevention, cognitive health and healthy aging. Materials on ICFA’s website, fishcoaltion.org, include the literature review, a one-page summary, animated videos and fact sheets.

Visit fishcoaltion.org to view ICFA’s Seafood Nutrition Toolkit and join ICFA’s effort to promote consumption of the healthiest animal protein on the planet.

Canned tuna sold by major U.S. grocers recalled due to botulism concerns

February 11, 2025 — Certain canned tuna products sold by grocers including Costco, Trader Joe’s and Walmart are being recalled due to botulism concerns, according to a notice posted Monday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The recall involves some canned tuna sold in dozens of states and Washington, D.C., under the Genova, Van Camp’s, H-E-B and Trader Joe’s brand names, stated Tri-Union Seafoods, a subsidiary of Thai Union, a global seafood provider based in Thailand.

“The ‘easy open’ pull can lid on limited products encountered a manufacturing defect that may compromise the integrity of the seal (especially over time), causing it to leak, or worse, be contaminated with clostridium botulinum, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning,” Tri-Union Seafoods stated in the recall posted Monday by the FDA. A supplier alerted the company to the manufacturing defect, El Segundo, California-based Tri-Union said.

People should not consume the recalled tuna even if it does not look or smell spoiled, and those feeling unwell should seek immediate medical attention, the company and FDA warned. No illnesses related to the recalled fish have been reported, they added.

Read the full article at CBS News

Seafood Nutrition Partnership expands successful seafood promotion campaign to new retailers

January 24, 2025 — The Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) is renewing and expanding its successful “Fall in Love with Seafood” campaign to reach more consumers across the U.S. in 2025.

SNP launched the campaign in October 2023 as a way to increase seafood consumption and later partnered with U.S. grocery retailer H-E-B to roll out the campaign inside its stores. Over the course of the year, the nonprofit ramped up the campaign and partnered with other retailers including Publix and Harris Teeter.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NFI, FMI push back against US FDA’s “unnecessary” new food labeling proposal

January 16, 2025 — The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and other organizations are concerned about new front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labels the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing for most packaged U.S. food products.

The FDA said the new nutrition labels would give consumers “readily visible information about a food’s saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars content – three nutrients directly linked with chronic diseases when consumed in excess.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

FDA, California-based company issue urgent oyster, Manila clam recalls due to potential norovirus contamination

December 17, 2024 — A San Fransisco, California, U.S.A.-based seafood distributor has issued an urgent recall of certain Fanny Bay, Buckley Bay, and Royal Miyagi oysters due to multiple confirmed illnesses from norovirus contamination.

The oysters, originally sourced from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based Pacific Northwest Shellfish and Richmond, British Columbia, Canada-based Union Bay Seafood by S&M Shellfish were distributed to retailers and distributors throughout the U.S.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Is your seafood ‘catfishing’ you? Study shows 1 in 5 fish mislabeled, fraudulent

November 26, 2026 — Craving fish? Your seafood may be “catfishing” you.

Studies show diners may be getting a completely different, usually cheaper fish than the one they ordered.

It’s called seafood fraud, and it’s happening in quite a few Chicago restaurants, studies show.

NBC 5 Responds visited Hooked on Fish market in Edgewater to find out more about seafood fraud. Owner Karen Wollins explained that some consumers fall victim because it can be difficult to tell one fish from another just by looking at them.

“A lot of people don’t really know,” said Wollins, who has operated Hooked on Fish for the past decade. The market specializes in selling responsibly sourced, sustainable fish.

So we asked Kathy, a Hooked on Fish customer and diehard seafood fan, to try to identify a few fish species based on their fillets in a display window.

Read the full article at NBC Chicago

US FDA seeking information on PFAS contaminants in seafood

November 21, 2024 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is asking the seafood industry, academia, and other relevant parties for more information on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in seafood.

“This request is part of our continued work to increase our understanding of the potential for PFAS exposure from seafood and to reduce dietary exposure to PFAS that may pose a health concern,” the FDA said in a recent update.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

The Truth About Tuna

September 30, 2024 — Ahi steak. Akami sashimi. Albacore on sourdough. Whether you smoked yellowfin on the grill or spread skipjack on a sandwich, chances are you’ve had tuna recently.

On average, Americans eat around two pounds of the fish per year, more than any other seafood except for shrimp and salmon. And for good reason: Tuna is tasty and versatile, and the canned variety costs as little as a dollar.

But is it good for you? Should you be worried about its mercury content? And what about the health of our oceans? Here’s what to know before you pop open that next can for lunch.

Is tuna healthy?

Tuna is about as nutritious as a food can be.

It’s packed with protein, minerals and vitamins, said Chris Vogliano, a dietitian and research director at the educational nonprofit Food and Planet. It has more selenium than just about any other meat. It’s also low in fat, Dr. Vogliano noted — but that means it has fewer omega-3 fatty acids than some other seafood.

There’s not a huge nutritional difference between canned tuna, sushi and a tuna steak, he added. Cooking the fish might lower its vitamin D, and the canning process might leach out a few nutrients, he said, but its nutritional value is largely the same.

Tuna’s one big health drawback, experts say, is the risk posed by mercury, a neurotoxin. This heavy metal enters the ocean mostly from human activities like burning fossil fuels. It’s absorbed by small organisms and works its way up the food chain and accumulates in bigger, longer-lived species — like sharks, swordfish and, yes, tuna.

In high enough concentrations, mercury can cause serious health problems. Cases of mercury poisoning are rare in the United States, but experts worry about the long-term effects of mercury on the brain — and elevated levels are often more common among urban and coastal populations that eat more seafood.

So what does this mean for tuna eaters? The answer is nuanced because the amount of mercury depends on the species — and there are 15 types of tuna, all of which could end up on a dinner plate. The smallest (and often cheapest), like skipjack, have very little mercury. Albacore and yellowfin can have three times as much; bigeye and bluefin can have far more, Dr. Vogliano said.

Read the full article at the The New York Times

Off the Menu: Lobster is not the luxury meal it once was

September 17, 2024 — There was a time not all that many years ago when the restaurant industry marketed lobster as a luxury item. With the exception of shoreside clam shacks and resort eateries, enjoying lobster was mostly a white-tablecloth experience.

These days, however, lobster is seemingly everywhere – in lobster rolls, as part of grilled cheese sandwiches, and as a mac & cheese mix-in. Restaurants at all price points are featuring lobster: This summer, chains like Friendly’s and 99 Restaurants had lobster rolls on their menus. Even independents are on the lobster bandwagon, as exemplified by Villa Napoletana in East Longmeadow, where a month-long lobster menu promotion is underway.

The industry’s appetite for lobster seems almost limitless. Cousins Maine Lobster, the food truck franchisor whose menu is lobster-dominated, this month announced plans to open another 250 outlets over the next five years. Some industry experts predict future demand for lobster to continue to grow at an 8%-plus rate

Read the full article at Mass Live