Ask the doctor: Does smoked fish contain omega-3 fats?

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Q.I like smoked salmon and kipperedherring, and thought that eating them was good for me. But I read in anotherhealth newsletter that the smoking process destroys all the heart-healthyomega-3 fats. Is that true?
A.I thought your question would be an easyone to answer. That didn't turn out to be the case. But with help from HeartLetter editor P.J. Skerrett, I think we can give you a solid answer.
Neither the American Heart Association nor the Dietary Guidelines forAmericans say anything specifically about smoked fish. The USDA's foodcomposition database gives conflicting information, with smoked cisco havingmore omega-3s than raw cisco, smoked herring having the same amount as rawherring, and smoked salmon having less than raw salmon. BarbaraBlakistone, the director of scientific affairs at the National FisheriesInstitute, said — much to our surprise and dismay — that there was little solidinformation on this subject.
Persistence paid off. We found Dr. Marit Espe, a senior scientist withNorway's National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research, who has doneextensive studies on the nutrient composition of fresh and smoked salmon. In ane-mail message, she said "the composition of omega-3 fatty acidscalculated as a percentage of the total lipids [fats] does not change duringthe smoking process." This was backed up by more recent data from GabrielViteri, the vice president of strategy and business development at Acme SmokedFish Corporation in Brooklyn, New York. An analysis of the company's smokedsalmon, done by an independent lab in the summer of 2010, showed omega-3 levelscomparable to those in fresh salmon.
So there you have it: smoked fish can be a decent source of omega-3 fats (aslong as the raw fish was rich in them). But it is an awfully salty way to getomega-3s. A 3-ounce serving of fresh, baked salmon has 51 milligrams (mg) ofsodium. Compare that to 222 mg in one ounce of smoked salmon or 567 mg in oneounce of lox. The extra sodium could counterbalance any benefits from omega-3fats.
I enjoy lox. But for my heart's sake, I eat it only now and then, and relyon fresh fish — broiled or baked — for my omega-3 fats.