Woolworths Crumbed Fish Fillets | Chewsday Review
This week we’re casting our net over Woolworths Crumbed Fish Fillets to see whether they’re a catch for busy family dinners or one to let off the hook. Let’s dive in!
- Alaskan Pollock (Theragra Chalcogramma) or New Zealand Hoki (Macruronus Novaezelandiae) (Fish) (51%), Wheat Flour, Water, Canola Oil, Tapioca Starch, Wheat Gluten, Wheat Starch, Potato Starch, Oat Fibre, Salt, Glucose, Sugar, Natural Colour (Turmeric), Breadcrumb (Wheat), Black Pepper
- Essentially this frozen fish fillet is 51% fish and 49% crumb coating by weight.
- Allergens: fish, wheat and gluten.
- One frozen fillet contains approx. 134mg of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (aka n-3 fatty acids) which is 2.5x the daily recommendation for 4-8 year olds, and 2x the daily recommendation for 9-13 year olds.
- These fillets are only $4.90 for 425g (6 fillets) and you can also buy a 1kg box for $11 (slightly cheaper). Similar products from Birds Eye and Sealord are about $28 per kg. Blueline Seafood Classic Crumb Fish Fillets are one of the cheapest crumbed fish fillets at $8.50 per kg bag, but they are packed in China with imported ingredients.
- Sodium is 270mg and within recommendations. It seems to be pretty typical amount for frozen and crumbed fish fillets. Sealord Wholemeal Crumb fillets seem to be the lowest sodium (160mg per 100g) but they’re more expensive.
- This does contain some added sugar but it’s a really tiny and negligible amount because sugar per 100g is only 1g.
- The fish content is a little lower than I’d like. These fillets are only 51% fish, whereas other products, like Sealord Crumbed Whiting Fillets, contain 60% fish.
- This is made with NZ fish, so I’m not surprised to see it’s packed in Australia from 40% Australian ingredients. It seems most of the frozen fish supply is international but if you are looking for local fish with the convenience of being frozen, I&J sell Australian Hoki crumbed frozen fillets.
- Fibre is 2.7g per serve but typically we aren’t choosing frozen fish for it’s fibre so I’m not really bothered that this is a little lower than recommendations. If anything it’s good to see this included on the nutrition information panel as lots of other brands don’t bother!
- “Feed your crew in 20 minutes.” This isn’t actually that fast if you have hungry kids… Interestingly the packaging doesn’t include air fryer instructions but does give a pan-fry option.
- “Sustainably sourced.” This product has an MSC certified tick, but there have been questions in the past about how legitimate the certification is. I certainly don’t have the answers on that one and for the most part I want to trust that having the MSC tick is better than not having the tick.
- “Good source of omega 3.” Sure is!
- Overall these Woolworths Crumbed Fish Fillets are fairly low in sodium and high in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. They don’t contain the highest percentage of fish but they are one of the cheapest in the freezer section.
- If you’re looking to maximise the fish component and don’t mind spending a bit more, check out the Sealord range of frozen fish fillets.
- If you’re still in fish finger territory, this product could be the next step to try. You can also join Toddler or Family Mealtimes to get my guide for choosing both fish fingers and fish fillets.
The composition of food products changes regularly. The nutritional values of the products in this Chewsday Review were correct at the time of publishing.
