Is it true that even the oiliest fish is still leaner than the leanest meat?

Numerous meat cuts have a lower lipid content than certain types of fish. Most cuts of beef for example, contain less than 6% fat, while some beef cuts such as topside or rump steak have lipid contents as low as 2.5%, among the leanest for meat and fish taken together.

Pork meat is often regarded as fatty. In actual fact, pork fat lies just below the skin. So it is easy to remove, before or after cooking. The largest pork muscles have a low lipid content (1.5 to 2%); the average is some 6%. Pork lipids contain a relatively high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids. A special feature of monogastric animals (non- ruminants, such as pigs) is that they deposit the fatty acids they consume in their fatty tissue without any chemical transformation. Thus the composition of the fat can be modified at least partly by changing a pig’s diet, and thus improve the meat’s nutritional quality.

The lipid content of meat varies according to the cut and not just according to the species. So lean pieces and fattier pieces can be found in all species. The lipid content of fish varies widely according to species and also according to the time of year.

Examples of lipid contents for the main fresh meat cuts: