WASHINGTON -- In the first week of August, government inspectors will begin the latest survey of supermarket seafood and produce departments to check for compliance with voluntary nutrition labeling guidelines.
te, based here.
The FDA, meanwhile, has released a new set of updated nutrient data pertaining to the 20 most frequently consumed seafood products.
The revised seafood data will be made available for the use of retailers, who are providing information about the nutritional characteristics of the top 20 seafood items to consumers in seafood departments across the country, as part of the voluntary nutrition labeling initiative.
FDA said the 20 most frequently consumed seafood products from seafood departments are, in descending order: shrimp, cod, pollack, catfish, scallops, salmon, flounder/sole, oysters, orange roughy, mackerel, ocean perch, rockfish, whiting, clams, haddock, blue crab, rainbow trout, halibut, lobster and swordfish.
According to the National Fisheries Institute, Arlington, Va., the newly released data from FDA on seafood products also highlights other information that could be of use in retailers' seafood marketing strategies, including:
All of the top 20 seafoods have little or no saturated fat, and most are low in fat content of all types. Lobster and cod, for example, have no calories from fat, while richer-flavored fish, such as salmon, contain as little as two grams of saturated fat per 3-ounce serving.
Orange roughy, halibut, cod and swordfish contain relatively small amounts of cholesterol for products of animal origin. Cod contains no more than 45 mg. of cholesterol for each 3-ounce serving and halibut contains 35 mg. Swordfish weighs in at 40 mg, while orange roughy has 20 mg.
Shrimp, lobster, pollack, cod, oysters and orange roughy -- to name a few of the top 20 -- contain less than 100 calories per three ounce serving, while most of the others on the list contain less than 150 calories per serving. Additionally, several of the varieties contain 20 grams or more of protein.
The Food Marketing Institute is updating its Nutri-Facts materials for dissemination this month to supermarket operators.
The seafood Nutri-Facts materials include posters, merchandising idea pieces and consumer brochures, all of which can help retailers remain in compliance with government requirements for voluntary seafood labeling.
