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http://www.ourpatch.com.au/austr ... 21-truth-about-basa
在google上也搜了也相关信息，好坏参半吧。没找到什么科学的评估
Do you love your fish and chips? Whilst not as popular as some other takeaway choices, Australians still spend over fifty million dollars each year on fish and chips. However, what you may be getting wrapped in batter may not even be a fish as classified under the rules for kosher or acceptable foods according to the Jewish faith. If it does not have scales it is not a fish they say.
So what is this non fish? Mekong River catfish otherwise called Basa or Pacific Dory is a fish with no scales in the conventional sense. According to the Master Fish Merchants Association Basa is now Australia’s biggest selling fish.
There is much misinformation spread about Basa. You may have received one of those “Shock Horror Probe “emails or even watched an item on Channel Seven about the production via aquaculture of Basa in Vietnam. Much of this originated as a result of concerns from big business, the North American catfish farmers as well as travelers returning from the new in vogue destination.
The cheap catfish arriving from Vietnam was a serious threat to the locally farmed product in the United States. The introduction of misleading information about the competition was a good initial defense of the lucrative local business. To gain credibility and collect damming evidence a group of US catfish farmers travelled to Vietnam to see the aquaculture set up first hand.
"We thought we'd find them growing fish in polluted water and processing them in crude plants...but that's not what we found. We came back scared to death."
Travelers to Vietnam and other countries of South East Asia returned with stories of farmed fish feeding on human effluent. The farming of Basa has been done for years by locals where often a cage is held under the boat on which they live to house their Basa crop. The fact is Basa supplied for export is produced under strictly controlled conditions in circumstances far removed from the humble peasant growing his own.
Why do we need Basa when Australia has the largest coastline of any country in the world? Unfortunately seventy five percent of the world’s fisheries are over fished. To keep up with demand over half of the fish now consumed worldwide is derived from aquaculture according to the authors of a study published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” in 2009. Around fifty percent of the fish consumed in Australia is of overseas origin as local production can not meet demand. Basa is an excellent choice of fish to farm as it grows quickly and is inexpensive.
A faster growing catfish with the common name Tra with has a poorer quality flesh is now gaining sway. Check the labeling; tra could be labeled either Basa catfish, Mekong catfish or Pangas catfish. True Basa can be labeled Basa, Bocourti or Basa bocourti.
The bottom line is “Is Basa safe to eat?” Vietnam is set to produce up to a million tones of catfish every year and exports to one hundred and twenty eight countries. Most countries have stringent quality controls similar to those employed by our own Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service.
The number of Tra and Basa catfish processing establishments is about one hundred and twenty. They all meet strict food hygiene and safety conditions laid down by the controlling bodies within Vietnam. The facilities are regularly inspected by experts from receiving nations such as the United States, Korea, the European Union and Australia.
The demand for fish continues to grow as the consumption of fish is linked to a lower rate of cardiovascular disease. However recommendations by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand( FSANZ) says for most people two to three servings of fish per week is fine but only one serving of shark/flake or billfish such as swordfish per week owing to concerns regarding levels of mercury. For pregnant women the recommendations are more stringent. Two to three serves per week for most fish but only one serve per week of orange roughy/ deep sea perch and catfish/Basa/Tra and no other fish that week. With shark/flake and Billfish, this drops to only one serve per fortnight with no other fish to be eaten in that time.
The levels of Omega 3 fatty acids, the source of the health benefit to the heart varies within different fish species. The nutritional data base NUTTAB 2006 developed by FSANZ provides the following analysis for Omega 3 fatty acids;
Smoked cod steamed 302mg per 100grams.
fish finger 161mg,
Australian tinned salmon in brine then drained 2456mg,
sardines in oil drained 2511,
Basa fillet steamed just 69mg.
However, fish is high in protein and low in saturated fat so it is not just all about Omega 3.
In Coffs Harbour, Trevor at the Jetty Village Takeaway has a few choices but no Basa. The whiting is fantastic. Whiting is also a recommended fish by The Australian Marine Conservation Society as a sustainable, non stressed fishery. Bream and flathead are other good choices based on their recommendations.
The Bray Street Takeaway has a varied choice dependent on price but Basa is not one of them. Flake was on offer the day I was there.
Another shop when questioned as to which fish was the fish in the fish in chips? ” Dunno! It comes in a box”
The fish and chip shop in Tugun on the Gold Coast was the first taste I had of Basa. It was edible but bland. Immemorable except for the fact it was the first time. In hindsight I suspect we are treating it the wrong way. What about these offerings from some restaurants where cooking catfish is commonplace;
The Asiatique Restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky offers Wok Seared Spiced Rubbed Basa with Citrus Reduction.
At the Port Edward in Algonquin, Illinois Basa is given a Thai twist and served with peanut sauce.
In California the Soule Domain restaurant serves pan-roasted Vietnamese Basa over noodles in Asian broth with bok choy, ginger and shitake mushrooms.
Basa is not the beast. It is relatively inexpensive, is produced via aquaculture in well controlled conditions for the fish and the environment, is one of the exports that is helping to grow a country once ravaged by war and whilst not brimming with Omega 3 is nonetheless a low calorie food if not coated in a fatty casing. When in Rome do as the Romans do. I will be dancing the Asian waltz next time I take Basa out for dinner. |
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楼主: adelle
发表于 7-1-2011 14:51:57
