More than ever, customers want to know what they are eating and are actively seeking out healthier menu options. It serves you well to have a menu that packs a major nutritional punch.

Seafood is a super-food in terms of health benefits. As a protein, mussels are higher in good things like selenium and Omega-3 fatty acids and, are lower in saturated fats than beef and pork. Mussels are an excellent source of protein, zinc, and iron as well. And if that’s not enough to get your health-conscious customers coming back for more mussels, this will: they stack up well when compared to other seafood options too. For example, mussels only have one third the cholesterol found in shrimp. This makes mussels a mighty good choice for entrées, and there is an abundance of healthy ingredients they’ll combine with to serve up some menu options as tasty as they are good for you. To learn more click here.

In a 2009 New York Times article, Mark Bittman asked "How do you buy fish without driving yourself nuts or feeling never-ending guilt?" The discussion around making sustainable choices has only continued to gain momentum. In fact member chefs from the American Culinary Federation named sustainable seafood as one of the top ten menu trends for 2011.

In response to consumer demand, we are seeing a trend towards sourcing sustainable seafood in restaurants and at fish counters across North America. Consumers are asking tough questions about overfishing and environmentally disruptive fishing methods and the impact of good farming practices and eating by season.

So, if you’re wise enough to have mussels on your menu, here’s what you could say to your environmentally conscious customers: mussels farmed from Atlantic Canada are grown to market demand, not by quota. There is zero dredging or disruption to the ocean floor involved in the farming process along with the fact the nutrients to feed our mussels are native to our pristine coastal waters.

In fact, mussel farming has been endorsed by environmental groups such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, and Oceanwise. Programs like the Monterey Bay’s Seafood Watch help chefs make informed responsible choices, and farmed mussels are a perennial top pick of Seafood Watch. They are green lit as a best choice and their farming meets all of the criteria of causing minimal environmental damage.

Including best choice options like blue mussels on your menu helps the industry ensure there is a supply of seafood to meet demand well into the future. Click here for more information about sustainability.