Deep sea dinners? Future global food source may lie in cephalopods, study says

15 Nov 2018 --- As the world’s population continues to expand and worries over strained global food resources grow, a recent article published in Frontiers is highlighting how cephalopods – squid, octopus and cuttlefish – could hold promise for our nutritional future. Under the initiative CephsInAction, the article calls for the use of the cephalopod population as a growing source of protein and a counterweight to the pressures facing global fisheries.

“We know that wild fish stocks are threatened and we are finding it difficult to establish new aquaculture because of pollution problems. At the same time, the global cephalopod population is growing, which is why we have investigated whether there may be grounds for getting people to eat cephalopods in those parts of the world where there is no widespread tradition for it,” says Professor Ole G. Mouritsen from the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH FOOD) in Denmark.

A good source of healthy nutrition
Mouritsen tells NutritionInsight that although plant-based alternatives will also play a part in feeding the world's growing population, they often lack certain nutrients that are difficult to source such as unsaturated omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids and the B12 vitamin.

Cephalopods are efficient at converting food into muscle, which means they can become healthy proteins for human consumption.

“The growth in the population applies to all species – including those you can eat. Cephalopods are filled with healthy nutrients like proteins, minerals, omega 3 fatty acids and a number of micronutrients, making them an accessible future food resource,” says Mouritsen.

Cooking knowledge is key
Cephalopods are most commonly eaten in Southeast Asia and Southern Europe, whereas it is less common in, for example, North America and Northern Europe, even though the local waters contain many edible cephalopod species. Therefore, cooking knowledge is key to mainstreaming the fish group into diets.

In these regions, cephalopods are often eaten as battered deep-fried rings, which can be quite tough to chew on, Mouritsen explains. But there are a variety of other cooking techniques: boiling, steaming, frying, grilling, marinating, smoking and drying.

“Often cephalopods like squid are not prepared properly and may come across as chewy. But it is easy to prepare all kinds of cephalopods with a little insight into their muscular structure to obtain the mouthfeel one desires,” Mouritsen tells NutritionInsight.

Therefore, a crucial obstacle to the mainstreaming of cephalopod consumption is a lack of knowledge around how to cook and prepare them in many parts of the world. Mouritsen, therefore, collaborated with chef Klavs Styrabeak on the article.

“At present, we are faced with finding alternative food sources, but it is difficult to get people to eat something they do not like. That is why taste comes first. I believe that cephalopods will become a widespread food around the world if we can succeed in making cephalopods a commercial market,” concludes Mouritsen.