Sea bass: several fish under one name

The strongest study on this page is about fish in general, and it was run in children. Across trials in 1,074 children aged 2 to 14, fish meals raised blood vitamin D by 4.08 nmol/L (95% CI 1.73 to 6.43), with no named sea bass and an effect the authors say may lack clinical relevance. The only human study that fed people sea bass had no control group. Nine adults with dyslipidemia ate about 28 oz (800 g) of farmed sea bass a week for 10 weeks, and their triglycerides fell from 183 to 140 mg/dl, with time, season and other diet changes left tangled up with the fish. The name is the other problem. Chilean sea bass is Patagonian toothfish, European sea bass is Dicentrarchus labrax, and numbers for one do not transfer to the other.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• Chilean sea bass varies a lot from fish to fish: across six USDA samples fat ran from 8 to 23 g and selenium from 42 to 95 mcg per 3.5 oz (100 g). — USDA Foundation Foods samples of Chilean sea bass (Patagonian toothfish), frozen, wild caught, FDC 2747668 (n = 6) Evidence E source
  Total fat 7.99 to 23.02 g per 3.5 oz (100 g) (mean 16.57); selenium 42.3 to 95.3 mcg (mean 69.37, 126% DV); vitamin B12 0.41 to 0.9 mcg (mean 0.588); sodium 52.3 to 216 mg
• European sea bass in the UK table is a different fish from Chilean sea bass: 3.5 oz (100 g) of raw flesh gives 20 g protein, 9.8 g fat, 1.71 g omega-3 and 29 mcg selenium. — UK composition table entry Bass, sea, flesh only, raw, CoFID code 16-385 Evidence E source
  Per 100 g raw: protein 20 g, fat 9.8 g, n-3 polyunsaturated 1.71 g, selenium 29 mcg, iodine 8 mcg, 168 calories; USDA Chilean sea bass mean selenium 69.37 mcg for comparison
• Mercury in fish sold as Chilean sea bass in US shops ranged from 0.07 to 1.9 ppm, and fish labeled MSC-certified had less than half the mercury of uncertified fish. — 38 retail fillets sold as Chilean sea bass in 10 US states, 25 MSC-certified and 13 uncertified (n = 38) Evidence C source
  Total mercury 0.07 to 1.9 ppm; MSC-certified under half of uncertified (p = 0.0050); certified fish from non-certified stocks 0.63 ppm against 0.31 ppm

What a real portion looks like

• FDA and EPA list Chilean sea bass as a Good Choice for mercury, which in pregnancy and breastfeeding means 1 serving a week of 4 ounces instead of 2 to 3 servings of Best Choices. — People who are or might become pregnant, breastfeeding, and children, per the US FDA/EPA advice about eating fish Evidence E source
  Good Choices: 1 serving a week in pregnancy and breastfeeding; 1 serving is 4 ounces for adults

What cooking and storage change

• Baking sea bass drains fat: per 3.5 oz (100 g) the UK table drops from 9.8 g fat and 1.71 g omega-3 raw to 6.8 g and 1.23 g baked, while protein rises from 20 to 23.2 g. — UK composition table entries Bass, sea, flesh only, raw (16-385) and baked (16-386) Evidence E source
  Fat 9.8 to 6.8 g; n-3 polyunsaturated 1.71 to 1.23 g; protein 20.0 to 23.2 g; selenium 29 to 24 mcg; per 3.5 oz (100 g) flesh
• By the USDA retention table for fatty finfish baked without drippings, vitamin B12 keeps 85% and the minerals keep all of their content. — USDA retention factors for the group Finfish and Shellfish Products, method FINFISH, >5% FAT, BAKED, WO/DRIPPINGS Evidence E source
  Vitamin B12 85% retained, vitamin B6 and folate 90%, thiamin 95%, calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, phosphorus 100%; selenium and protein are not in Release 6
• FDA guidance says parasites in fish meant to be eaten raw are killed by freezing at -20°C (-4°F) or below for 7 days, or at -35°C (-31°F) until solid and then 15 hours, and that heating fish enough to kill bacteria also kills parasites. — fish intended to be eaten raw or undercooked (US seafood industry guidance) Evidence E source
  -4 °F (-20°C) for 7 days, or -31 °F (-35°C) until solid plus 15 hours at -31 °F (-35°C), or plus 24 hours at -4 °F (-20°C), kills parasites

What it does to your health

• For fish in general rather than sea bass, a randomized trial in 95 people with high blood lipids found 8.8 oz (250 g) of trout twice a week for 8 weeks lowered LDL more than 2 g a day of omega-3 capsules. — 106 patients with hyperlipidemia randomized, 95 analyzed, trout twice weekly or 2 g/day omega-3 capsules for 8 weeks (n = 95) Evidence B source
  LDL -22.75 mg/dL with fish against +18.7 mg/dL with capsules (P < 0.001)

Safety, limits and interactions

• None of 259 farmed European sea bass from southeast Spain carried anisakid worm larvae, by visual inspection and by digestion of the flesh. — 259 farmed European sea bass and 612 gilthead sea bream from farms in southeast Spain (n = 871) Evidence C source
  0 of 871 fish with anisakid larvae
• Raw sea bass bought in Bangkok markets almost always carried a food poisoning bacterium: 29 of 30 samples had Vibrio, Salmonella or Aeromonas. — 30 uncooked sea bass samples from open markets and supermarkets in Bangkok, Thailand, January to February 2008, among 120 seafood samples (n = 120) Evidence C source
  Sea bass 97% of samples positive; all seafood 92% Vibrio, 27% Aeromonas, 21% Salmonella

What people believe that the data does not support

• The EU did not authorize the claim that eating farmed sea bass and gilthead sea bream twice a week helps maintain heart health. — EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-7114 for cultured sea bass and gilthead sea bream as a source of EPA and DHA Evidence E source
  Status Non-authorized
• In a randomized trial with 200 shoppers choosing sea bass in a mock fishmonger, a color eco-label raised the chance of picking a lower-impact product by 16%. — 200 consumers in a simulated fishmonger store in Derio, Bizkaia, Spain, choosing among sea bass products (n = 200) Evidence B source
  16% higher likelihood of selecting lower-impact products, seen only without supporting information on the label

Who this works differently for

• For fish in general rather than sea bass, a meta-analysis of trials in children found fish meals raised blood vitamin D by 4.08 nmol/L, with no clear change in other micronutrients. — children aged 2 to 14 years in seven studies (six randomized controlled trials) comparing fish with low or no fish intake (n = 1074) Evidence A source
  25(OH)D pooled mean difference 4.08 nmol/L (95% CI 1.73 to 6.43); sensitivity analysis 3.46 nmol/L (95% CI 1.03 to 5.65)
• FDA and EPA list black sea bass as a Best Choice and Chilean sea bass as a Good Choice, and advise children 2 servings a week from the Best Choices list, about 1 ounce at age 1 to 3 up to 4 ounces at age 11. — people who are pregnant or breastfeeding and children ages 1 to 11 years Evidence E source
  2 servings a week from Best Choices, serving about 1 ounce at age 1 to 3, 2 ounces at 4 to 7, 3 ounces at 8 to 10, 4 ounces at 11
• CDC names raw shellfish, particularly oysters, as the main source of vibriosis and lists liver disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV, immune-suppressing therapy and stomach acid reducers as conditions that raise the risk. — people with liver disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV or thalassemia, people on immune-suppressing therapy, people taking medicine to decrease stomach acid Evidence E source
  Higher risk of Vibrio infection and severe complications (no size given)

What is still unknown

• The only human study that fed people sea bass had no control group: 9 people with dyslipidemia ate about 28 oz (800 g) of farmed sea bass a week for 10 weeks and triglycerides fell from 183 to 140 mg/dl. — 9 dyslipidemic subjects eating about 28 oz (800 g) Orbetello farmed sea bass per week for 10 weeks (n = 9) Evidence C source
  Triacylglycerols 183.3 to 140.2 mg/dl (P = 0.04); other lipids unchanged; hs-CRP, IL-6 and IL-8 lower (P < 0.05)

The bottom line

Per 100 g raw, the UK table gives European sea bass 20 g protein, 9.8 g fat, 1.71 g omega-3 and 29 mcg selenium, as one composite value with no spread. Six USDA samples of Chilean sea bass ran from 8 to 23 g of fat and 42 to 95 mcg of selenium per 3.5 oz (100 g), so two fillets can differ widely. Baking lowers the UK fat figure from 9.8 to 6.8 g and omega-3 from 1.71 to 1.23 g, while protein rises to 23.2 g, a change that mixes fat lost to the pan with water loss. The USDA retention table for fatty fish baked without drippings keeps 85 percent of vitamin B12 and all of the minerals. We found no study of how people absorb nutrients from sea bass. The nearest trial of whole fish against its oil used trout. In 95 people with high blood lipids, open-label, 8.8 oz (250 g) of trout twice a week for 8 weeks lowered LDL by 22.75 mg/dL. Over the same time 2 g a day of omega-3 capsules raised it by 18.7. The EU refused the claim that eating farmed sea bass and bream twice a week helps maintain heart health, and the register snapshot does not give the reason. In a randomized test with 200 shoppers in a mock Spanish fishmonger, a color eco-label made them 16 percent more likely to pick a lower-impact sea bass, a result about shopping with no bearing on health. Mercury sets the limit. In 38 retail fillets sold as Chilean sea bass in 10 US states, total mercury ran from 0.07 to 1.9 ppm, and fish labeled MSC-certified had less than half the mercury of uncertified fish, partly because some fillets were a different species or stock. FDA and EPA list Chilean sea bass as a Good Choice, which means one serving a week for anyone pregnant, breastfeeding or who might become pregnant, where an adult serving is 4 ounces. The advice also covers children, but our card gives only the adult serving size. European sea bass is not named on that chart. Raw fish carries its own risk. In Bangkok markets in 2008, 29 of 30 uncooked sea bass samples carried Vibrio, Salmonella or Aeromonas, from one city over two months. None of 259 farmed European sea bass from southeast Spain had anisakid worm larvae, a result that covers farmed fish from one region and leaves wild fish untested. We have no card on cooking temperatures or on freezing fish for raw dishes, so this page cannot say how to make raw sea bass safe, and nothing on it shows that raw or lightly cured sea bass, farmed or wild, is safe to eat. We have no card on fish allergy or on interactions with medicines.

Sources

1. sbas-r8-01 · USDA FoodData Central Foundation Foods, dataset
   Sea bass, Chilean, frozen, wild caught (FDC 2747668, Foundation): total lipid 16.57 g, range 7.99-23.02, samples 6; selenium 69.37 ug, range 42.3-95.3, samples 6; vitamin B-12 0.5883 ug, range 0.41-0.9, samples 6; sodium 109.4 mg, range 52.3-216.0, samples 6
   USDA FoodData Central, Foundation Foods, release 2026-04-30, FDC 2747668 · checked 2026-09-29
2. sbas-r8-02 · CoFID 2021, dataset
   Bass, sea, flesh only, raw (CoFID 16-385): protein 20.0 g; fat 9.8 g; n-3 poly 1.71 g; selenium 29 ug; iodine 8 ug; energy 168 kcal per 100 g
   CoFID 2021, Public Health England / OGL v3.0, code 16-385 · checked 2026-09-29
3. sbas-r8-08 · cross-sectional survey of retail fish
   Measurements of THg for the retail-acquired Chilean sea bass in our study varied widely among samples, from a low of 0.07 ppm to a high of 1.9 ppm. Overall, fish labeled as MSC-certified Chilean sea bass had less than half the THg of uncertified fish (Table 1, Fig. 2), a highly significant result (t-test for unequal variances: t = −2.97, one-tailed p = 0.0050).
   PLoS ONE, 2014 · checked 2026-09-29
4. sbas-r8-09 · government dietary advice
   Eat 2 to 3 servings a week from the 'Best Choices' list (OR 1 serving from the 'Good Choices' list). ... 1 serving is 4 ounces ... Chilean sea bass/Patagonian toothfish
   US FDA, Advice about Eating Fish, 2024 · checked 2026-09-29
5. sbas-r8-03 · CoFID 2021, dataset
   Bass, sea, flesh only, raw (16-385): fat 9.8 g, n-3 poly 1.71 g, protein 20.0 g, selenium 29 ug; Bass, sea, flesh only, baked (16-386): fat 6.8 g, n-3 poly 1.23 g, protein 23.2 g, selenium 24 ug
   CoFID 2021, Public Health England / OGL v3.0, codes 16-385 and 16-386 · checked 2026-09-29
6. sbas-r8-04 · USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, dataset
   FINFISH,>5%FAT,BAKED,WO/DRIPPINGS (USDA-RETN-R6:2451): vitamin_b12_ug 85%; vitamin_b6_mg 90%; folate_total_ug 90%; thiamin_mg 95%; calcium_mg 100%; iron_mg 100%; zinc_mg 100%
   USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6, 2007, Retn_Code 2451 · checked 2026-09-29
7. sf-fpf-r1-6 · agency advice
   Freezing and storing at an ambient temperature of -4°F (-20°C) or below for 7 days (total time), or freezing at an ambient temperature of -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at an ambient temperature of -31°F (-35°C) or below for 15 hours, or freezing at an ambient temperature of -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at an ambient temperature of -4°F (-20°C) or below for 24 hours are sufficient to kill parasites. ... The process of heating raw fish sufficiently to kill bacterial pathogens is also sufficient to kill parasites.
   FDA, Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance, Chapter 5: Parasites · checked 2026-10-08
8. sbas-r8-13 · randomized controlled trial
   One group received 2 g/day of omega-3 capsules for a period of 8 weeks and the other group received a mean of 250 g trout fish twice weekly (for dinner and lunch) for the same time period. ... LDL level was increased in the supplementation group, while it was significantly reduced in the dietary-fish group (+18.7 ± 24.97 vs. -22.75 ± 27.28, P < 0.001).
   Nutr Diabetes, 2017 · checked 2026-09-29
9. sbas-r8-06 · cross-sectional prevalence survey
   In the present study, a total of 871 farmed fish, 612 gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) and 259 European sea bass (Dicentrarchux labrax L.), were examined for the presence of anisakid larvae. ... None of the samples examined in this study contained any anisakid parasite.
   J Food Prot, 2010 · checked 2026-09-29
10. sbas-r8-07 · cross-sectional prevalence survey
    All oyster sample (100%) had at least one pathogen, followed by sea bass (97%), blood cockles (97%), and shrimp (90%).
    J Food Prot, 2012 · checked 2026-09-29
11. sbas-r8-10 · EU health claim decision
    POL-HC-7114 Food Category: Fish Food: Cultured Sea bass and Gilthead Sea bream Food Component / Nutrient: EPA & DHA Omega 3 Highly Unsaturated fatty acids Eating cultured sea bass and gilthead sea bream twice a week, as a rich source of omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids and part of a healthy lifestyle, has been shown to help maintain heart health Non-authorised
    EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-7114, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-09-29
12. sbas-r8-11 · randomized controlled trial
    This article presents findings from a randomized control trial conducted in a simulated fishmonger store in Derio, Bizkaia, Spain, involving 200 consumers. Participants selected various sea bass products out of multiple options. ... A 16% increase in the likelihood of selecting lower-impact products was observed.
    Appetite, 2024 · checked 2026-09-29
13. sbas-r8-12 · meta-analysis of RCTs
    Meta-analysis was possible only for vitamin D (25(OH)D, 1,074 participants), showing a pooled mean difference of 4.08 nmol/L (95% CI: 1.73-6.43) favoring fish consumption; sensitivity analysis (850 participants) yielded 3.46 nmol/L (95% CI: 1.03-5.65), with no heterogeneity.
    Front Nutr, 2026 · checked 2026-09-29
14. sf-fish-r2-2 · agency advice
    1 ounce at age 1 to 3 2 ounces at age 4 to 7 3 ounces at age 8 to 10 4 ounces at age 11 Eat 2 servings a week from the “Best Choices” list. ... Black sea bass Best Choice ... Chilean sea bass/Patagonian toothfish Good Choice
    FDA and EPA, Advice about Eating Fish · checked 2026-10-08
15. sf-vibrio-seabass-1 · agency advice
    Most people get vibriosis by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters...Some medical conditions and treatments can increase your risk for infection and severe complications. They include:...Having liver disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV, or thalassemia...Receiving immune-suppressing therapy for the treatment of disease...Taking medicine to decrease stomach acid levels
    About Vibrio Infection, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, People at risk · checked 2026-10-08
16. sbas-r8-05 · non-randomized intervention in humans
    Lipid, inflammatory, and haemorheological variables before (T0) and after a dietary intervention with about 800 g Orbetello farmed sea bass per week for 10 weeks (T1) were evaluated in nine dyslipidemic subjects. Fish intake significantly decreased triacylglycerols (T1, 140.2+/-20.3 mg/dl versus T0, 183.3+/-29.2 mg/dl; P =0.04), whereas no significant changes for the other lipid variables have been observed.
    Int J Food Sci Nutr, 2009 · checked 2026-09-29