Fish as a functional food: some issues and outcomes

Introduction Seafoods are inherently functional and possess many components that are good for human health. Seafoods and their by-products are an excellent source of nutraceuticals and bioactives, and these can be extracted/isolated and added to a range of foods thereby enhancing functionality of the foods in terms of human health (Shahidi, 2003; Alasalvar and Taylor, 2002). These aspects are addressed under nine headings: (1) inherent functionality; (2) nutrient intake of different populations from fish; (3) health benefits of fish products; (4) improving functional profiles of fish and fish products; (5) upgrading fish waste; (6) safety implications of functional seafoods; (7) ethical and sustainability issues; (8) health claims; (9) promoting fish and fish products to consumers. Most of the coverage given is brief; comprehensive coverage would require a book rather than this 33 page article.