Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers (done with a little humor) to queries usually asked about canned fish and seafood products, sometimes precisely from a Club Des Millionnaires point of view. Got more? Let us know!

(1) I will not drink my milk unless maybe my mother tells me a story. I am 39 years old. What can sardines do to help me?

Many adults don't drink milk -- one reason why so many of them are short of the calcium they need. So it's important to realize that -- unlike most other high-protein main dishes -- Millionnaires sardines have more calcium in 100-gram serving (drained weight) than you'll find in a whole glass of milk. It takes almost 30 hamburgers to do this.

(2) How come sardines have extras like calcium? Are they fortified with something?

We don't put much of anything into our sardines except some natural smoke flavour from good oak for our Small Petits sardines. But they have a number of nutrition extras that you don't usually find in high-protein foods. The reason is simple. Our little sardines are so delicate that even the bones are soft. You eat almost the whole creature and never notice. Actually, you could do the same thing with, say, a cow -- and get the nutrition from bone, liver and the rest. But it would take very strong teeth and a lot more time.

(3) When I have a light lunch or supper with sardines, what do I do to get all the protein I need?

Just swallow. 100g of sardines have 40 percent of your day's ample recommendation for protein - about the same as almost 100g of cooked hamburger (about 113 grams raw).

(4) You mean you're going to compare those light tender sardines to thick, juicy beef for protein?

Sure we are. Gram for gram, our sardines have as much high-quality protein as prime sirloin.

(5) Aha! Now you're getting tricky. A little 100g can of sardines is all I want to satisfy me. When it comes to steak, I want a whole lot more. So don't I get a lot more protein?

Aha, yourself. You don't need that extra protein. Extra protein gives you nothing extra for health. You also don't need the extra calories you get with needlessly big servings of protein food. 100g of our sardines have about 240 calories, about the same as cooked hamburger. A ten-ounce steak is about 1,000 calories.

(6) But if 40 percent of my daily protein comes from one can of sardines, don't I have to eat two and a half cans to get all my protein?

Not at all. You'll eat other meals and other foods. You see, sardines, like meats and other fishes, have high-quality protein. You need this high quality, but only for about a third of your day's protein. The remaining two-thirds of your protein can come from lower quality, cheaper sources, such as bread, peas, noodles and the like. If you're like most Canadians, you'll eat other high-quality protein foods in a day. But you could get along nicely on the sardines.

(7) Since sardines have so many extras, can I skip my vegetables? I would especially like to skip my broccoli and string beans.

Not if you want to be big and strong. Many Canadians are lacking some key vitamins and minerals, in large part because they do not eat vegetables. Millionnaires Sardines help to furnish some of those missing nutrients - but not enough so that you can ignore balanced meals.

(8) Which missing vitamins do sardines give me?

Many people may be short of riboflavin (vitamin B2). Meats are pretty good riboflavin sources. But Millionnaires sardines can match almost any meat or poultry you eat.

(9) Is that all the vitamins you've got?

Oh, no. Those are some hard-to-get nutrients. We have more. For example, sardines are an extremely rich source of niacin. But most meats have similar amounts, and it's hard to find anyone short of niacin in Canada. So we didn't want to make a fuss about it. We also have some pantothenic acid while also comprising an excellent source of vitamin A. And unless you're a vegetarian, you might not care about all our vitamin B12.

(10) If vegetarians get so many fruits and vegetables, how can they be short of a vitamin like B12?

Simple. There isn't any B12 in fruits, vegetables or grains. It's found only in animal source foods. Millionnaires Sardines give you virtually all the vitamin B12 anyone needs on a daily basis. So vegetarians who like to eat a little fish can not only get all their missing high-quality protein, but also all their missing B12 from 100g of our sardines.

(11) And that does it for sardine vitamins?

Yes, unless you're interested in vitamin D. This vitamin is needed to use calcium, of course, for building bones and teeth. Many people get enough from sunshine. But the need is so pressing that a day's supply is added, for safety, to every quart of milk. Or you can get a whole day's vitamin D just by eating 100g of delicious sardines from Millionnaires.

(12) Didn't you leave out vitamins C and B1?

We skipped over those two because we have virtually none of them. We can't say just why. It may be because sardines do not drink orange juice, but that's not likely.

(13) Do you have a long story about sardine minerals too?

The Europeans prefer to call it a saga. Many Canadians do not eat enough of such foods as whole grains and green, leafy vegetables to get all of the important trace minerals we need. For example, many Canadian women, large numbers of children and some adult males are short of iron, essential to a good blood supply. Iron is quite scarce in most foods. The exceptional amounts found in sardines can mean a lot.

Magnesium intake may also be marginal in some groups. Sardines deliver about 10 percent of the daily recommended requirement. And then there's the phosphorus.

(14) What's so special about the phosphorus?

What's special about the phosphorus in the sardine is that it's balanced by the calcium. You see, when we make bone, for example, the body uses about equal amounts of calcium and phosphorus. Phosphorus is fairly plentiful in most meats and fishes. So most of us get plenty. But we tend not to get enough calcium to balance it. Sardines and milk are two among the few foods with roughly equal amounts of calcium and phosphorus, the way the body likes it.

(15) Don't sardines have a fair amount of fat?

Yes, about as much as beef or pork. But we tend to eat smaller portions of fish, so we get less fat. Also, animal fat is more saturated than polyunsaturated. Sardines are opposite, with less saturated fat and more polyunsaturated fat, like vegetable oils and margarines. The oil in which sardines from Millionnaires are packed is either soya, olive, sardine or sunflower oil.

(16) Can I eat sardines if I'm watching my weight?

Definitely. In fact, our sardines have such a wide range of nutrients that they can make possible some calorie shortcuts. For example, when Millionnaires sardines are your main protein dish for a meal, you have also met the calcium-phosphorus content from the milk group. So you can let this group go for the meal. The other nutrients you need to make sardines into a balanced lunch or dinner are plentiful in many low-calorie foods. The missing vitamin C is supplied by a small tomato (22 calories), some scallions, pimentos, green peppers or some dark green leaves in a salad. Or you can fill it in for dessert with some strawberries, a papaya half or other C-rich fruit. To help fill the B-vitamin need which has been met partially by the sardines, have a couple of slices of bread (only 60 to 70 calories each), some spinach or other dark greens, potatoes (lower-calorie than you think) or macaroni. Or use some pickled beets or beans, cold asparagus or string beans with a little dill. Maybe sliced egg. These other foods all help to complete the needed iron for the meal, as well as vitamin A and B vitamins. You can easily have such a meal and spend less than 500 calories if you wish. Just look out for fats. (Our sardines supply the essential fatty acids for the meal.) Use low-calorie dressings. With sardines, you don't even have to butter the bread.

(17) When sardines come in sauce, are they still good nutritionally?

Certainly. Other than the oil pack, sardines mainly come in tomato or mustard sauce. In these two sauces, the drained fish has about 20 fewer calories of fat and about four more calories of carbohydrate. Both sauces give the sardines slightly more vitamin A, and just a little less riboflavin. There is somewhat less niacin in the mustard pack, and only about half the day's vitamin D instead of all of it.

(18) What is the difference between all the various kinds of sardines?

Little fish sardines, this is what most people think of when they think sardines. Northern Europe and the East Coast of North America are the two leading suppliers to the North American market. Europe packs one-layer tins with 6-12 fish, and two-layer tins holding 16-22 fish per tin. The East coast packs one-layer tins with 3-6 fish per tin. *Note the European smaller sized product versus the larger sized East coast product.

Millionnaires Small Petits Sardines are from the Sprat species and are commonly known as Brisling. They are packed in two layers (14-22 sardines per tin) or one layer (8-12 sardines per tin) in 100/106g tins. These sardines can also be slightly smoked naturally or packed without smoking (the label will tell you). The top of the line Millionnaires Brisling sardines are smoked and packed in Olive Oil while most other sardines are packed in Water, Soya oil or Sauces.

Big fish sardines, these fish are usually called Pilchards, and are packed 3-7 fish per can. These fish are packed wherever the fish can be found around the world.

Skinned and boned sardines are found in northern Spain, Portugal or off the coast of Morocco and are packed with 4-6 and even up to 14 fish per tin. Without bones they do lack the high calcium content of other sardines.

Millionnaires Mediterranean sardines are from the Walbaum species which is similar to mackerel or Tuna in texture. They are packed one layer(4-6 sardines per tin) in a 124g tin.

Millionnaires East Coast sardines are from the herring family and are packed one layer (4-5 sardines per tin) in a 106g tin.

(19) Have you ever discovered glass-like particles in canned fish?

Relax - it is not what you think. Read the following disclaimer.

CANADA

Fisheries Research Board of Canada

Statement on the glass-like crystals sometimes found in canned salmon,
canned tuna, and some other canned marine products.

On occasions small crystals having some resemblance to pieces of broken glass may be found in canned fishery products.  They are colourless, transparent and tasteless.  The size varies—sometimes they are so small as to impart only a slight “grittiness” to the product, whereas sometimes several crystals up to one-quarter of an inch long may be found.

What are they?  Such crystals have been frequently analyzed, and invariably have been identified as the chemical substance magnesium ammonium phosphate.
           
Are they harmless? Yes, quite.  In fact, the chemical substances in the crystals are necessary on one form or another for normal health.  The crystals have about the same hardness as a crystal of ordinary salt; hence they will not injure the enamel of healthy teeth.  They are practically insoluble in the saliva of the mouth, but should they be swallowed no harm will result as they dissolve in the digestive juices of the stomach.

Where do they come from?  The separate chemical substances capable of uniting to form crystals of magnesium ammonium phosphate are always present in the bodies of fishes, animals and man, but it is only under certain conditions that these substances unite to form the crystals.   Crystals of magnesium ammonium phosphate are found as the naturally occurring mineral “struvit”, and the same substance has also been found in the healthy human body in the tartar film on teeth, and elsewhere.

How may they be distinguished from pieces of broken glass?  Their crystalline structure renders them sufficiently friable to be readily crushed between the fingernail; they will not actually scratch the surface of an aluminum cooking utensil or copper coin although they may make a mark in the oxidized surface layer of the metal; polishing the mark with a cloth will disclose that no actual scratching of the metal has taken place, whereas glass easily scratches these two metals.  A convincing test is to place a suspected crystal in a teaspoon, then add a few drips of 10% hydrochloric acid, and heat by means of a match, candle, or cigarette lighter until the acid is hot.  The crystals will dissolve, whereas a fragment of glass will not dissolve.

Since these crystals may sometimes be mistaken for broken glass, this statement as to their nature and harmlessness has been prepared for the protection of the marine products canning industry of British Columbia.

NEAL M. CARTER
Director
Pacific Fisheries Experimental Station
898 Richards Street
Vancouver 2, BC