The Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB) has added two more factsheets to its series highlighting the nutritional benefits of popular shellfish species consumed in the UK
SAGB has been comprehensively reviewing of the all the health benefits of eating shellfish and earlier this year produced a fully-referenced technical report for health professionals and policy makers accompanied by an easy to understand guide for non-experts and laypersons.
The information contained within these reports has been used to develop species-specific factsheets packed with the relevant healthy facts and figures for crab, lobster, scallop, prawns, oyster and mussel. The SAGB has now published an additional two – cockles and squid.
According to the SAGB, cockles are a fantastic low calorie food; 100g of cockles (an average serving) contain only 53kcal compared to 180kcal in 100g of salmon. In addition 100g of cockles contains over 3000% of the recommended daily amount of vitamin B12.
This vitamin is important for the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system and plays a key role in the formation of red blood cells.
Squid is a great source of long-chain omega-3 with 100g providing 21% of the recommended weekly intake (based on a recommended 3000mg weekly intake), said SAGB.
Furthermore, squid contains nearly twice the amount of Vitamin B6 than chicken and nearly four times more than cod. This vitamin helps the body to use and store energy from the protein and carbohydrates in the foods we eat.
All the SAGB factsheets are aimed at the consumer and present all the key nutritional data that are needed to assist them in making informed decisions about the foods they eat.
As well as macronutrient content (shown as proportions of recommended daily amounts) the factsheets present the nutritional ‘traffic lights’ for the species and the long-chain omega-3 content.
Dr Tom Pickerell, director of the SAGB, said: “Research has shown that consumers want clear, honest labelling to help them choose healthy food for their families. We hope the factsheets provide exactly that.”
“The factsheets are available to any retailer of shellfish and we hope that they are provide a useful resource.”
Copies of the factsheets are available from the publications section of the SAGB website (http://tinyurl.com/factsheets001).
SAGB is the UK industry’s trade body. Its membership comprises shellfish farmers, fishermen, commercial traders and companies, many of the Sea Fisheries Committees, as well as organisations such as Seafish, in addition to experts, scientists and consultants.
