Easy to cook, loved by children and omnipresent in the freezers of Italian families, i fish sticks They look like a comfortable option to bring fish to the table. But what really hides behind their golden breading?
The life jacket He tried 8 among the most popular brands we find in the supermarket:
Let’s see what the test discovered.
The results
The differences between the 8 samples of the test were not as marked as in the past. In fact, a general adjustment of the fish percentages has been observed, which now never drop below 60%, while in the past some products even struggled to reach 50%, leaving too much space for the breading.
The test has now encountered a certain uniformity: the percentage is around 65% for brands such as Frosta, Conad, Coop, Esselunga, Carrefour, Lidl and Eurospin. The only product that descends under this average is the Findus stick, which stops at 60%.
The fish might seem very, but in reality on closer inspection it is not. The part of the breading is truly relevant And this is a choice that affects not only on the nutritional value of the product but also on transparency towards the consumer, who expects to bring a significant portion of fish to the table.
The experts of the Life jacket They write:
The sticks bring a not indifferent amount of carbohydrates to the diet and, in the plate of children, they do not provide a sufficient contribution of fish as we would be led to think.
Another weak point is the difficulty in understanding the origin of fish. Even if mandatory by law, information is often written in a little visible way, hidden next to the expiry date or indicated with little intuitive codes and letters. The test detected the use of alaska cod, South African, of the Pacific and southern, with variations from lotto to lot within the same brand.
In some references, then, such as those of Findus and Carrefour, there are starches (such as potatoes) that can contribute to the formation of acrylamide, a potentially carcinogenic substance that develops during cooking at high temperatures. Cooking in the oven recommends The life jacketit is undoubtedly the safest: it is better to avoid instead a pan and air fryer, which can increase the risk of release of acrylamide.
From a nutritional point of view, however, it is recommended to Choose products that use sunflower oil: Other vegetable oils, such as Colza’s, are less valuable. Finally, as regards the salt content, the differences are not enormous but still significant: it ranges from 0.77 g/100 g (Coop and Esselunga) to 0.91 g/100 g (FROSTA).
The “worst” according to the test
Actually, All tested fish sticks reach at least enough but Findus is the last in the standings. It does not come out very well from the test for the presence of starches and the risk of acrylamide formation during cooking.
To find out the complete results of the test, refer to the April of the life preserver.
