Fish oil lifts levels of healthy fats

IT IS possible to increase levels of healthy fats in beef by feeding fish oil, without detrimental effects on colour, shelf-life or taste.

In addition to containing saturated fats linked with heart disease, beef has other types of fats people are being encouraged to eat more of, said Nigel Scollan of the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Reasearch. “We have been looking at ways of manipulating fats in meat over the last 7-8 years.

“Our target is to reduce saturated fat content and increase polyunsaturated fatty acids, in particular Omega 3.” This can be achieved by altering the animal’s diet, such as with grass or oils in concentrates, he explained.

But there have been concerns this would also alter commercial aspects of meat, such as colour and shelf-life. The DEFRA-funded study Dr Scollan reported to BSAS investigated the use of fish oil, which in previous work had negative effects on these factors and on taste.

His research used four different levels of salmon oil from 0% to 6% of the concentrate. Concentrate was fed as 40% of a grass silage-based diet.

“Results show feeding fish oil increased the content of Omega 3 fatty acids in meat. But it did not have any effect on colour or shelf-life.”

While taste tests show slight increases in the fishy taste using a sensory panel of expert tasters, this was not at a level that consumers would notice, he added.

However, Dr Scollan admitted it would be difficult to make this high Omega 3 meat an added value product. “Most consumers buy on price. Others are small in number.”