Irish people are eating less than a quarter of the recommended weekly amount of fish - despite the fact that we are an island nation, a new survey has found.
According to the survey, one-third of people do not eat fish, and the remainder have a very low intake. Nutrition experts recommend that you eat fish twice a week and ensure that at least one of those portions is oily fish.
The survey found that the average intake per week of fish in Ireland is equivalent to less than one-quarter of a portion or just 35g per day. The survey, which looked at the population's intake of finfish as opposed to shellfish, was conducted on behalf of Safefood, the Food Safety Promotion Board.
"People see it almost as a scary food," said Dr Cliodhna Foley Nolan, director of human health and nutrition with Safefood. She said the barriers to people eating fish was that they were not sure how to cook it and they believed it needed to be eaten on the day of purchase.
The survey found that 70 per cent of those questioned worried about the freshness of fish. Ms Foley Nolan said fish could keep for up to two days, provided it was refrigerated properly.
More than 60 per cent of those questioned said possible food poisoning was a deterrent and 54 per cent said they were unsure about how to cook fish. Other barriers to buying and eating fish were the cost of it, the taste, smell, the presence of bones and the appearance of whole fish with heads and tails.
Ms Foley Nolan stressed the health benefits of including fish in diets. These include a reduced rate of cardiovascular disease and the healthy development of the central nervous system in babies. She said fish was also a rich protein source with polsyunsaturated fatty acids, iodine and vitamin D.
She said the risk of developing gastroenteritis or similar conditions from eating fish was extremely low.
"The key is to incorporate fish into your diet on a weekly basis. It is especially important for children to be given fish in their diet. Quite often, the consumption of fish is abandoned in the family home," Ms Foley Nolan said.
She said putting any type of fish on the menu was important, even frozen fish such as fish fingers or fish in batter, which can have higher fat content.