Tinned fish vs fresh fish? Which is better? It depends. Is fresh fish really fresh? Fresh and tinned fish have the same key nutrients such as omega 3, protein, vitamins. There is more calcium in tinned fish if the bones are also canned. Besides nutritional value, BPA-free canned or tinned fish can be better than fresh fish overall if they meet the following criteria for you.
We recommend incorporating quality canned or tinned fish as part of your meal protein options, if you like the taste. You might just be hooked on gourmet tinned fish.
If the fish is sustainably wild caught in cleaner seas
Since canned fish has the same key nutritional value as fresh fish, canned clean water wild caught fish beats fresh fish farmed or caught in waters polluted with chemicals, oil leaks, sewage leaks, or plastic.
If the freshest fish is canned, not the leftover
Businesses usually try to minimize cost and lower prices to compete in the market. So even if the fish is wild caught in clean waters, if a cannery sources leftover of auctions or sale, the canned fish wouldn’t be the best. But if a cannery uses the freshest of the fresh caught, the fresh flavor and peak nutrients are sealed in. When you eat it months or even years later, it’s still ‘fresher’ than dated fresh fish.
If you don’t have access to fresh caught or flash frozen fish
Most fish at grocery stores are previously frozen or frozen. If you can’t buy truly fresh caught fish or flash frozen quality fish, or if they are outrageously expensive, quality tinned fish becomes the ‘freshest’ option you have.
Fish like sardines and mackerels are low in mercury
Fish like sardines and mackerels are low in the food chain, so they are low in heavy metals. Unfortunately, they are not local in many regions of the world, so you won’t find them fresh at seafood markets. They are mostly canned, and that makes tinned fish a better option than most fresh or frozen fish accessible to us from a toxicity standpoint.
No cooking necessary
There’s no doing dishes from cooking. Simply throw a salad together. Pair it with quality tinned fish and bread. You have a yourself a gourmet meal.
The flavor profiles are unmatched
Big flavors can come out of those little tins. Some artisanal tinned seafood brands offers flavors and seasoning like piri-piri chili pepper, laurel, clove, smoke, lemon, gourmet tomato sauce, and organic extra virgin olive oil. They are delicious. When in Portugal, you can even do a tasting at a tinned fish tapas restaurant like Miss Can.
Tour a sardine cannery to appreciate quality tinned fish
Very few working fish canneries in the world are open to public. If you plan to visit Portugal, consider adding Pinhais Cannery in Porto (Matosinhos) to you itinerary. Many people find their museum and factory tour the highlight of their trips. By the end of the tour, you’ll learn to appreciate the care and effort they put in the products, and differentiate quality vs bad canned fish. It’s hard not to become a tinned fish fan afterwards.
