'Skimpflation' warning as tinned mackerel alternative hits more supermarket shelves
Consumer groups are warning about 'skimpflation' as supermarkets replace Atlantic mackerel with cheaper jack mackerel. While manufacturers cite sustainability and cost, critics argue that the nutritional value is significantly lower and transparency is lacking.
Why it matters
This trend reflects broader economic pressures on food supply chains and highlights the tension between corporate cost-cutting and consumer rights to nutritional transparency.
Image caption, Sales of fresh mackerel have also been suspended by some shops due to overfishing concerns
A growing trend of supermarkets selling a cheaper, less nutritious alternative to tinned mackerel is an example of "skimpflation", a consumer group has said.
Princes - which supplies major supermarkets - has substituted the fish for jack mackerel, an entirely different species also being sold by Lidl.
The switch has been spurred by dwindling stocks of Atlantic mackerel after years of overfishing, with its Chilean counterpart more sustainable and a third of the cost.
"It's a real concern when manufacturers quietly downgrade everyday staples like these as shoppers can end up paying the same price for a product that delivers significantly less nutritional quality," Sue Davies, head of food policy at Which?, said.
Jack mackerel contains about half as much omega-3 and around a third as much vitamin B12 as traditional mackerel.
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