FOOD VALUE OF FISH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 April 1938, Page 10

FOOD VALUE OF FISH

REPORT OF INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE. CONSUMPTION IN DOMINION LOW. The fish industry derives added importance from the nature of the commodity it supplies to the public, states an extract from the report of the Sea Fisheries Investigation Committee. To summarise the evidence on the food value of fish we cannot do better than quote the following extracts from the statement tendered by Dr .John Malcolm, Professor of Physiology at the Medical School, Dunedin: — “It is a matter of common knowledge that fish is a valuable article of diet The value to a nation of its fish supply is shown by the care taken by Governments to preserve their right to the fisheries Being closely incorporated with the other constituents of the fibre the fat of fishes is not so obvious to the consumer as the fat of meat. It is also more oily and the greater part of it is more easily digested and absorbed than the fat of meat The fat or oil contains a greater amount of Vitamin A and probably Vitamin D than is found in bacon or mutton fat The protein content of fish is more uniform than the fat (which varies in different species) and amounts to nearly that of meat. It is of high quality and is easily digested

The minerals present in fish are more abundant and more varied than in ordinary meat, thus there is more lime in the ash of fish and what is still more important, more iodine

Two classes of fish foods deserve special mention, viz, shell fish such as oysters and toheroa, and whitebait. Both these as eaten contain relatively large amounts of certain vitamins and minerals, partly because the whole fish is consumed including the liver nr what corresponds to it in the case of shellfish. The iodine in these cases is especially valuable because weight for weight oysters supply more iodine than any other article of diet with the exception of seaweed If the whole population of New Zealand could be induced to consume regularly from childhood a small portion of a seaweed preparation or about half-a-dozen oysters per head per week, it can confidently be stated that the occurrence of goitre would be greatly lessened, if not abolished.” Other medical authorities who submitted statements to the Committee agreed for reasons similar to those given by Professor Malcolm, as to the desirability of making fish more accessible at reasonable prices to all classes and in all parts of the country. AVERAGE CONSUMPTION. That the consumption of fish per head in New Zealand is low compared with that in, for instance, Great Britain is borne out by interesting figures contained in a statement prepared for the Committee by Dr Elizabeth Gregory of the Home Science Department of the University of Otago. Dr Gregory said: —“The average consumption per head per week as given in the New Zealand Year Book for 1936 is 6.9 ounces. This is considerably lower than the average consumption of fish, Britain (8.9 ounces) and lower than the figure, 8 to 9 ounces, recommended by the Advisory Committee on Nutrition (Great Britain). These figures, however, are averages, and it is only by records of family dietaries that the variations can be obtained. In 130 family dietary studies investigated during 1935-37 at the Home Science School, consumption averaged out at 5.1 ounces per head per week—considerably lower than the New Zealand average quoted above. Of these families, 25 per cent did not consume any fish during the week in which the investigation was made. In the remainder, the variation was very great —from 1 ounces per head per week to 20 ounces. Thus it would appear that the level of consumption is low in a considerable proportion of the population.”

The dietary referred to may, we think, be taken as indicative of the fact that the consumption of fish by large numbers of people in the Dominion is very .low. From this, the question arises as to whether, supposing the cessation of export were practicable, our people could consume virtually all the fish caught in New Zealand waters. If this were possible, its effect would clearly be beneficial to the health of New Zealanders, and as will be shown later, to the organisation of the fisheries. After close examination of this question the Committee is satisfied that, granted certain conditions, the fish landed from New Zealand waters could easily be consumed within the Dominion. These conditions are: —■ (a) The capacity of our population to so add to the weight of its present per head fish consumption as to absorb the quantity—or the major portion of it —now exported. (b) Improvement in transport and distribution so as to make the fish available all over the country in good condition. (c) A reduction in price.