Why is FPC a good protein source?

First, of course, because it is concentrated; untreated and unprocessed foods do not generally contain more than about 20 percent protein, whereas FPC contains about 80 per cent. Secondly, the quality of the protein is high; by this is meant that the amino acids which make up the protein are present in just the right balance for human nutrition. Other foods such as cereals may contain useful amounts of protein but are frequently deficient in one or more of the amino acids that are essential for growth.

How is FPC used?

Fish protein concentrate type A is an odourless, tasteless powder which is unattractive to eat by itself; there is therefore a real problem in finding ways to make most use of it. It has to be incorporated in other foods such as bread, biscuits, soups and stews at a level that does not affect their normal properties. Good results have been obtained with macaroni products, a milk shake drink, spaghetti sauce, infant foods, dietetic foods and breakfast cereals.

There is less of a problem with other FPC products which have some flavour. A fishy flavour, even if a rancid one, is acceptable in food in some societies; thus the FPC can be eaten more or less as it is, or used as a flavouring in soups or stews.

However, it is true to say that this highly nutritious, concentrated, stable foodstuff is now available without as yet any clear demands appearing for its use.

How long does FPC keep?

Fish protein concentrate is described in its definition as stable; the term stable here has been tentatively defined as showing no significant deterioration in 6 months at 27°C when packed in a hermetically sealed container. Some FPC now being made can certainly reach this standard of stability.

Is FPC made commercially?

Although it has been made in Canada, USA, Norway, Sweden, Morocco, South Africa, Chile, Peru and the UK, FPC is not yet an article of commerce in the usual sense. Plants capable of producing about 15 tons a day of FPC type A have recently been completed in the USA, but their output is sold to the government for use in aid programmes. Since there is no established market, it cannot yet be claimed that FPC is made commercially. The process, however, is a commercial one, and not merely experimental.

How much does FPC cost?

It is difficult to obtain a firm idea of its likely commercial price; this will depend obviously on the cost of the raw material and the process used. Estimates vary between 15 and 50 U.S. cents a pound; a commercial price for type A would probably be close to the latter. These prices compare very favourably with those for proteins from other sources. Fish protein concentrate is for example about half the price of non-fat dried milk and about one-twentieth that of meat for a unit weight of protein.

Will FPC solve the world’s food problems?

No; neither FPC nor any other protein source will solve the world food problem unless population growth is slowed. In the short run it is unlikely that any single source of protein such as FPC will solve such a complex problem, which in any case is not limited to proteins, although these are important.

However, F.P.C. could well play a most effective role in reducing protein deficiency in parts of the world where large sections of the population suffer from malnutrition. Nutritive studies have shown the remarkable beneficial effect of adding FPC to the diet; of this there can be no doubt. Its use is particularly beneficial to growing children and pregnant or nursing mothers. Twelve grammes, less than half an ounce, of FPC a day will supply the needed protein to a child; a small FPC plant processing 50 tons of raw fish a day could provide enough FPC for three quarters of a million children. However, in some areas of the world where fish are plentiful it may still be more logical to develop orthodox fish industries to meet shortage of protein, and to confine FPC to emergency use.

Disregarding for a moment the cost of FPC which, although low, is not negligible to those most in need of protein, the problem of introducing FPC to those that need it is more recalcitrant than the problem of making it. People do not ingest nutrients, they eat food; they will not normally buy and eat something solely because it is good for them or pay extra for traditional food simply because it contains a nutritious additive. This social problem of acceptance is the hardest to deal with; FPC is a completely new product in its tasteless, odourless form and has none of the traditional attributes of a food. Many scientists believe that if FPC is introduced first to refugees, orphans and prisoners it will attract an image of food for the poverty-stricken, which will increase its rejection on social grounds still further. Ironically, its introduction as a health food and as concentrated high quality protein to the wealthier countries is perhaps a more acceptable route for it to reach the undernourished.

On this kind of question there is endless discussion but, despite great efforts by UN agencies, individuals and manufacturers, FPC has not yet found a continuing role in combating malnutrition in any country. In a world basically short of protein, however, there is little doubt that markets of some kind will develop for a fish protein concentrate of some kind during the next decade.

Introduction

This note briefly describes the manufacture, storage, composition and use of fish meal, and also touches on the problem of air pollution from fish meal plant.

The use of fish byproducts for feeding animals is not a new idea; a primitive form of fish meal is mentioned in the Travels of Marco Polo at the beginning of the fourteenth century: ‘... they accustom their cattle, cows, sheep, camels and horses to feed upon dried fish, which being regularly served to them, they eat without any sign of dislike.’ The utilization of herring as an industrial raw material actually started as early as about 800 AD in Norway. A very primitive process of pressing the oil out of herring by means of wooden boards and stones was employed.

What is fish meal?

In the UK the term fish meal means a product obtained by drying and grinding or otherwise treating fish or fish waste to which no other matter has been added. The term white fish meal is reserved for a product containing not more than 6 per cent oil and not more than 4 per cent salt, obtained from white fish or white fish waste such as filleting offal.

These are semilegal definitions, and for convenience fish meal can be defined as a solid product obtained by removing most of the water and some or all of the oil from fish or fish waste. Fish meal is generally sold as a powder, and is used mostly in compound foods for poultry, pigs and farmed fish; it is far too valuable to be used as a fertilizer.

What raw material is used?

Virtually any fish or shellfish in the sea can be used to make fish meal, although there may be a few rare unexploited species which would produce a poisonous meal. The nutritional value of proteins from vertebrate fish differs little from one species to another; whole shellfish would however give a nutritionally poorer meal because of the low protein content of the shell. Most of the world’s fish meal is made from whole fish; the pelagic species are used most for this purpose. Where a fishery catches solely for the fish meal industry, it is known as an industrial fishery.

Countries with major industrial fisheries are Peru,Norway and South Africa. Some countries like the UK make fish meal from unsold fish and from offal, that is the heads, skeletons and trimmings left over when the edible portions are cut off. Other countries like Denmark and Iceland use both industrial fish and processing waste. Fish meal made mainly from filleting offal usually has a slightly lower protein content and a higher mineral content than meal made from whole fish, but a high proportion of small whole fish in the raw material can have the same effect.

The following points are important when selecting species for an industrial fishery:

1. The species must be in large concentrations to give a high catching rate; this is essential because the value of industrial fish is less than that of fish for direct human consumption.

2. The fishery should preferably be based on more than one species in order to reduce the effect of fluctuations in supply of any one species.

3. The total abundance of long lived species varies less from year to year, and

4. Species with a high fat content are more profitable, because the fat in fish is held at the expense of water and not at the expense of protein.