Fish (food)

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This page is about the use of fish as food; for other uses of the word, see Fish (disambiguation)
Image:BakedFish.jpg
Fish served with vegetables and herbs.

Fish as a food describes the edible parts of water-dwelling, cold-blooded vertebrates with gills. Other edible water-dwelling animals such as mollusks, crustaceans, and shellfish may[citation needed] also be classified as fish but are often referred to as shellfish. Fish are highly perishable, so fresh fish is only found near bodies of water, or where efficient refrigerated transportation is available. Fish is also widely preserved through drying, salting, freezing, and canning.

Fish is consumed as food all over the world; with other seafoods, it provides the world's prime source of high-quality protein: 14-16% of the animal protein consumed world-wide; over 1 billion people rely on fish as their primary source of animal protein.[1][2] Fish is among the most common food allergens.[3]

Contents

[edit] Common food fish

There are over 27,000 species of fish, making them the most diverse group of vertebrates. However, only a small number of the total species are commonly eaten.

[edit] Some popular fish species

Main Article: List of edible fish

[edit] Fish consumption

Iceland, Japan and Portugal are the largest fish consumers per capita in the world.[4]

[edit] Preserving fish for market

Image:FishAtSupermarket.jpg
Fish at an Asian supermarket.

Fish is highly perishable once dead. The fishy smell of dead fish is due to the breakdown of amino acids into biogenic amines and ammonia.[5] Live fish are sometimes transported in tanks at a high expense to prevent the decay of the rich flesh. Fish can be refrigerated for a short time or preserved. In many countries filleting and freezing is the most common means of preservation.

Fish can be preserved in a variety of ways. The oldest and still most world-wide are by drying or salting. Some fish, such as salmon, tuna and herring are cooked and canned, while desiccation (complete drying) is commonly used to preserve some food fish, such as cod and partial drying and salting is popular for the preservation of herring and mackerel, among other fish. Most fish are filleted prior to canning, but some small fish (e.g. sardines) are only beheaded and gutted prior to canning.

[edit] Preparation for consumption

Fish can be prepared in a variety of ways, including not cooking (raw) (cf. sashimi), marinating (cf. escabeche), pickling, baking, frying, grilling, and poaching in court-bouillon. Many of the preservation techniques used in different cultures have since become unnecessary but are still performed for their resulting taste and texture when consumed.

[edit] Nutrition and health

Fish, especially saltwater fish, is high in Omega 3 fatty acids, which are heart-friendly, and a regular diet of fish is highly recommended by nutritionists[6]. This is supposed to be one of the major causes of reduced risk for cardiovascular diseases in Eskimos. It has been suggested that the longer lifespan of Japanese and Nordic populations may be partially due to their higher consumption of fish and seafood. The Mediterranean diet is likewise based on a rich intake of fish.

Image:2005demersal fish.PNG
Demersal fish output in 2005

Fish products have been shown to contain varying amounts of heavy metals, particularly mercury and fat-soluble pollutants from water pollution. According the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the risk from mercury by eating fish and shellfish is not a health concern for most people[7]. However, certain seafood contains sufficient mercury to harm an unborn baby or young child's developing nervous system. The FDA makes three recommendations for child-bearing women and young children:

  • 1. Do not eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or Tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.
  • 2. Eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.

Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish. Another commonly eaten fish, albacore ("white") tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. So, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) of albacore tuna per week.

  • 3. Check local advisories about the safety of fish caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers, and coastal areas. If no advice is available, eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) per week of fish you catch from local waters, but don't consume any other fish during that week.

Follow these same recommendations when feeding fish and shellfish to your young child, but serve smaller portions.[7]

Parasites in fish are a natural occurrence and common. Though not a health concern in thoroughly cooked fish, parasites are a concern when consumers eat raw or lightly preserved fish such as sashimi, sushi, ceviche, and gravlax. The popularity of the such raw fish dishes makes it important for consumers to be aware of this risk. Raw fish should be frozen to an internal temperature of -20°C (-4°F) for at least 7 days to kill parasites. It is important to be aware that home freezers may not be cold enough to kill parasites.[8][9]

Traditionally, fish that live some or part of their lives in fresh water were considered unsuitable for sashimi due to the possibility of parasites (see Sashimi article). Parasitic infections from freshwater fish are a serious problem in some parts of the world, particularly Southeast Asia. Fish that spend part of their life cycle in brackish or freshwater, like salmon are a particular problem. A study in Seattle, Washington showed that 100% of wild salmon had roundworm larvae capable of infecting people. In the same study farm raised salmon did not have any roundworm larvae.[10]

[edit] Fish as meat

Though fish is the flesh of an animal, making it meat, many people who choose not to eat meat may not necessarily abstain from eating fish. For example, various Christian fasts involve abstaining from meat. In Catholicism before Vatican II, meat was forbidden during Lent and on Fridays, but fish was permitted. In Eastern Orthodoxy, fish is permitted on some fast days when meat is forbidden, but stricter fast days exclude fish as well, though permitting invertebrate animals such as shrimp and oysters, which are considered "fish without blood."

Muslim halaal practice and Jewish kosher practice treat fish differently from other forms of animal flesh. Some Buddhists and Hindus (Brahmins of West Bengal state in India) abjure meat, but not fish. Many vegetarians in Western countries, including all vegans, regard fish as a form of meat, and do not consume it.

Pesco-vegetarians will consume fish based solely upon the fact that the fish are not factory farmed as land animals are.[11] Some eat fish with the justification that fish have less sophisticated nervous systems than land-dwelling creatures. Others may choose to consume only wild fish based upon the lack of confinement, while choosing to not consume fish that have been farmed.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ World Health Organization.
  2. ^ Tidwell, James H. and Allan, Geoff L.
  3. ^ The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network
  4. ^ Aquamedia
  5. ^ [N. Narain and Nunes, M.L. Marine Animal and Plant Products. In: Handbook of Meat, Poultry and Seafood Quality, L.M.L. Nollet and T. Boylston, eds. Blackwell Publishing 2007, p 247.]
  6. ^ University of Michigan Health System.
  7. ^ a b What You Need to Know About Mercury in Fish and Shellfish
  8. ^ Parasites in Marine Fishes University of California Food Science & Technology Department Sea Grant Extension Program
  9. ^ Vaughn M. Sushi and Sashimi Safety
  10. ^ Paul Carnes, P. Fish Parasites The Fishermen's Journal
  11. ^ VegDining.com

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Wikibooks' Cookbook has more about this subject:
Fish
de:Speisefisch

es:Pescado is:Fiskur (matargerð) he:דגי מאכל nl:Vis (voeding) sv:Fisk yi:ים–פיש

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