Fish fingers were first introduced in the UK, launched by a brand named Birds Eye in 1955, and have since become quite a sought after delicacy. In fact, these rectangular breaded, deep fried fish pieces have become one of the most popular food items among kids.

However, despite the notoriety it has gained, some individuals still doubt if fish fingers truly are as healthy as most brands make them out to be. These concerns stem from the fact that fish fingers is essentially a clever name for deep fried fish, and everyone knows that deep frying any meat can neutralize some of its nutrients. Keeping in mind about ;

Is fish finger healthy?

We’ve come up with some definitive proof that fish fingers can indeed be healthy, provided a few conditions are met.

Alternatively, we’ve also come up with a few reasons Is fish finger healthy?, apart from the fact that they’re deep fried. So, with that said, let’s jump straight into it.

Potential Reasons Why Fish Finger is Considered Unhealthy

From our initial research on the topic, we’ve come up with three potential reasons why some individuals may consider fish fingers as unhealthy.

Processing Problems

A common misconception that’s made its way into the mind of some individuals is that fish fingers use fish that’s gone slightly bad. Plus, they also think that its coating is made up of luminous breadcrumbs that do more harm than good.

Now, while that may have been true in the olden days, the increasing amount of competition among big food brands these days and the increasing focus on quality control has caused a clean up in the ingredients used to make fish fingers.

Thus, we personally believe that today’s quality control standards don’t allow brands to serve up questionable fish when making fish fingers.

Quality of Fish

Even if most brands use fresh fish when making fish fingers, the way that fish is prepared can outright determine how healthy the final product will be.

For example, some individuals believe that minced fish makes for less healthy fish fingers than those made from whole filets, and that assumption would actually be correct.

While minced fish offers almost the same amount of nutritional value as whole filet fish, it lacks the flaky texture of filets.

Which prompts manufacturers to mix in additives like hydrocolloids, polyphosphates, soy proteins and gelling proteins to make the end product feel and taste more like filets. These artificial additives can be potentially harmful to your health.

High Fat Content

Filet fish comparatively contains less fat then minced fish. Which is probably why consuming a plain filet fish is still healthier than consuming products made from even 100% filet fish, only because of the coating applied to these manufactured products.

Processing any food negatively changes its composition. For instance, if you were to take 100g of baked cod, you’d find that it contains up to 1.2g of fat. However, the same weight of cod fish finger contains more than 8g of fat.

Fish Fingers That Can Be Considered Healthy

We previously mentioned that some fish fingers can be considered healthy, provided they fulfill a few conditions.

Well, we’ve come up with a few types of fish fingers that fulfill those conditions, making them completely healthy to consume.

Homemade

If we’re being completely honest, making your own fish fingers is actually pretty easy and should be your go to option, especially since you know exactly what you’ll be using.

In fact, we’d even go as far as to say that there’s no comparison between a frozen, processed fish finger and a homemade one, even if you end up lightly deep frying the fish. We’d suggest baking them though, since it works really well in removing some of the fish’s excess fat.

To get into the process a little bit, all you’ll have to do is cut the fish into strips and lay it down in a bowl full of beaten eggs and bread crumbs. You can then roll the fish into crumbs. Here we’d suggest spinning wholemeal bread in a processor to get the quickest results.

Lightly season the dish afterwards using parmesan, oregano or garlic to enrich the flavor and serve it with any beverage of your choosing.

Made by Trusted Brands

If you yourself don’t have the time to make fish fingers yourself, using home ingredients that you trust, your next best option is buying fish fingers from reputable brands that have a proven track record of producing healthy food items. K&Ns in Pakistan is a good option.

However, if you have the money for it, we’d suggest buying fish fingers directly from Birds Eye, the UK brand. You’d probably have to shop on Amazon, or some UK specific marketplace for it, and it’ll probably cost you a lot more than buying from somewhere like K&Ns.

But, since Birds Eye is the original producer of fish fingers we rate it pretty highly when it comes to trusted brands.

What to Look for in Fish Finger?

Now that we’ve given you a few ways to acquire healthy fish fingers for you and your family, let’s look at some important features you need to keep a special eye on when buying the food item from a store.

Percentage of Fish

To evaluate quickly if a specific box of fish fingers is trash, you just need to take a look at the percentage of fish it contains. The rule is easy in this case: The more quantity of fish you find, the less rubbish the fish fingers will contain.

To find the exact percentage, just take a look at the ingredient section on the back of the box.

Sodium

Checking the sodium levels of any store bought food is incredibly important to ensure that you and your child don’t go over your daily allowance level. As that could cause an increase in blood pressure which could become a chronic condition over time.

Sustainability of the Source

In this day and age, it’s incredibly important for us all to consume food that comes from a sustainable source. Mainly because of the positive impact it’ll have on the environment and on your health.

Thus, we suggest checking each box of fish fingers you find for certifications that can trace the fish content’s origins to a sustainable food source.

Final Thoughts

There you have it folks, that was our answer to the question: Is fish finger healthy? To reiterate, fish fingers can be considered healthy if they come from a trusted source and contain a high amount of fish compared to other additives and the coating.

It’s also important that the fish fingers be made from 100% filet fish rather than minced fish meat. However, if you still need further clarification on how fish fingers can be considered healthy food items, we’d suggest booking an appointment with Dr. Ayesha Nasir.

She’s one of the top dieticians and nutritionists in Pakistan, and she’ll surely supply you with the answers you need.

Is Fish Finger Healthy? 3 Health Facts