What is shark fin made of and what is its nutrition?

The so-called shark fin is the filamentous cartilage in shark fin. Sharks are cartilaginous fish with fins shaped like vermicelli.

Is shark fin really nutritious?

From the point of view of modern nutrition, shark's fin (cartilage) does not contain any nutrients that are easy to lack or have high value. It can also be said that its nutritional value is not very high, because the protein contained in shark's fin lacks an essential amino acid (tryptophan) and is an incomplete protein. If you want to supplement protein, many foods are good choices, good quality and low price, such as bean products, eggs, lean meat and so on. Therefore, it is sheer nonsense to supplement it with shark fin.

Shark fin can not only nourish your body, but also poison you. According to the research of an environmental investigation team, shark fin soup contains a high concentration of toxic substance-mercury, which is harmful to the higher nervous system of human body. Two random toxicity tests on shark fin sold in Bangkok showed that shark fin was polluted by mercury as high as 70%, and the mercury content absorbed by human body was 42 times higher than the normal allowable content, and the source of mercury was untreated wastewater. Australia and New Zealand have also recently warned China people, especially reminding pregnant women not to eat shark meat. Because excessive intake of mercury will cause great harm to pregnant women and children, especially affecting the generation of children's brains and nerve cells. Most of the mercury in shark fin comes from polluted seawater, and sharks are at the highest position in the food chain, so the mercury in their bodies can always accumulate more and more.