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Press release
SHELLFISH & CHOLESTEROL BROCHURE
TACKLES OUT OF DATE ADVICE
The Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB) and Seafish, the Authority on
Seafood, have sent 90,000 brochures to GP Surgeries in the UK to tackle out of
date advice being given to patients on shellfish and cholesterol
An SAGB facilitated ‘cross-over’ trial at the University of Surrey has shown that people
who ate 225g of prawns per day showed no significant effects on their blood cholesterol
level. The research effectively ‘myth-busted’ the old-wives tale that eating prawns can
raise your cholesterol.
The research provides yet more evidence supporting the now established scientific
understanding that saturated fat in the diet (most often found in pastry, processed
meats, biscuits and cakes) is more responsible for raising blood cholesterol than
cholesterol-rich foods, such as shellfish.
This is echoed by the NHS Direct website which that dietary cholesterol has little effect
on blood cholesterol and the British Heart Foundation website actually states “The
cholesterol which is found in some foods such as eggs, liver, kidneys and some types of
seafood e.g. prawns, does not usually make a great contribution to the level of
cholesterol in your blood”.
Despite this, many health care professionals (and some self-appointed experts) are still
giving out-of-date advice patients with high blood cholesterol to cut back on prawns.
To counter this, the SAGB and Seafish produced an explanatory, evidence-based
brochure and sent copies to every GP surgery in the UK.
The brochure explains that confusion arises when people with a high cholesterol level
are advised to avoid certain foods because they are “high in cholesterol”. Only a small
amount of cholesterol in the blood comes directly from our food. In fact, for most people,
around 85% of cholesterol in the blood is produced in the body by the liver. The
cholesterol in food has very little effect on blood cholesterol level; the amount of
saturated fat you eat is far more important.
What we should focus on, is eating a balanced diet and cutting down on our intake of
saturated fat, rather than excluding particular foods. Shellfish, prawns in particular, are a
prime example. The many shellfish species available in UK are both delicious and an
excellent source of many nutrients required within a healthy, balanced diet. Shellfish are
very low in saturated fat and eating shellfish counts towards your recommended two
portions of seafood a week.
Dr Tom Pickerell, Director of the SAGB said, “If I had a pound for every time someone
told me their doctor advised them to avoid prawns I’d be a rich man”
“The purpose of this brochure is to empower the public to challenge advice that they
may believe is incorrect. In certain cases the advice will be appropriate, but it would be a
crying shame if people were avoiding healthy shellfish for no reason.”
In a small number of people (about 1 in 100) high blood cholesterol can be caused by a
genetic condition called Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) or Familial Combined
Hyperlipidaemia (FCH). Those with this condition often need to be more cautious in their
consumption of high cholesterol foods.
Notes for Editors
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Interviews for radio, TV and print are available with Dr Tom Pickerell Mobile 07507
339156 [email protected]
Copies of the brochure are available from the publications section of our website.
The Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB) is the industry’s trade body. Our
membership is composed of shellfish farmers, fishermen, commercial traders and
companies, many of the Sea Fisheries Committees, but also organisations such as
Seafish, as well as experts, scientists and consultants.
Further details on the nutritional benefits of shellfish see our two reports