Seafood Business - December 2004 Top Story
Healthy sales just ahead
				
              Seafood Business                
          
        

          

            
Sat, 1st January 2005

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            Seafood Business            

            

            
            The federal government is expected in early 2005 to advise Americans to eat fish twice a week, an unprecedented move that would force public institutions such as schools and the military to buy more seafood.             




The advice, if adopted by the departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services as part of the 2005 dietary guidelines, would also provide seafood marketers with the sales pitch of a lifetime.
Updated every five years since 1980, the dietary guidelines are the foundation of the food pyramid. The current pyramid lumps seafood with the other proteins, urging consumers to eat two to three servings daily of beef, poultry, dry beans, eggs, nuts and fish.
But on Aug. 19, a federal panel of 13 nutritionists recommended that the new dietary guidelines urge Americans to eat two servings (or about 8 ounces) weekly of fish, particularly species rich in omega-3 fatty acids, to reduce the risk of heart disease. Never have the guidelines specified the amount of seafood consumers should eat.
The panel, called the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, released its final report detailing 10 messages. The advice on seafood was included under the message, 'Choose fats wisely for good health.'
The panel supported the heart-protective effects of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA (eiscosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which are found in most fish, including salmon, rainbow trout, herring and tuna.
(The panel also warned expectant and nursing mothers and young children to avoid fish high in methylmercury, mirroring the Food and Drug Administration’s advisory.)
Moreover, seafood was the only protein for which the panel specified how much to eat.
Some marketers see the advice as an opportunity to sell more seafood to schools, the military and other public institutions required to base food-purchasing decisions on the dietary guidelines. The government spent $16.4 billion to operate its food-assistance programs in 2004.
Others view the advice as a marketing tool, endorsing what they’ve promoted for years — that seafood is an integral part of a healthy diet.
'Seafood has always been an optional food in consumers’ minds,' says Pat Shanahan, President of Shanahan Strategic Planning & Communications in Seattle. 'This makes seafood a necessity.'