Importance of knowledge on lipid composition of foods to support development towards consumption of higher levels of n-3 fatty acids via freshwater fish.
The need of better labelling of fats in processed animal origin products is urgent. The lack of information makes it possible to exclude n-3 fatty acids in preparations of foods. The higher fat content, the higher n-6/n-3 ratio seems to be a rule. It is desirable to broaden the labelling into which oils have been used when foods are processed. The dietary balance of n-6 and n-3 fatty acids is important for homeostasis and normal development in humans. The ratio between n-6/n-3 fatty acids suggested to be evolutionary developed is between 1 and 4. The main conclusion is that the fat sources used during processing and preparation of convenient foods have the largest impact on the food FA content and composition. A proposal is therefore that this should be declared on the product label especially the n-3 FA content. It is also of large importance to increase consumption of freshwater fish fed suitable feeds containing n-3 fatty acids in central Europe to enable a generally lower n-6/n-3 ratio in the human diet. Therefore optimizing feeds to freshwater fish in culture is urgent and important.
Department of Food Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden. Jana.Pickova@lmv.slu.se
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D000821:Animal Feed; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D017756:Aquaculture; D004032:Diet; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6 / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005515:Food Labeling; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017747:Seafood
D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6