Group · Fish
Pilchards (in tomato sauce)
The pilchard is an adult sardine, larger and oilier than the usual tinned sardine, traditionally canned in tomato sauce. The values below are for the drained product, as it comes out of the tin.
In terms of nutrition facts: 157 kcal per 100 g, with 11 g of fat including 3.21 g of omega-3 (the record in this selection) and 13 g of protein. It provides 250 mg of calcium, 14 µg of vitamin D and 13 µg of vitamin B12 per 100 g, with 1 g of salt.
Macronutrient breakdown
Nutrition table per 100 g
| Calories | 157 kcal |
| Kilojoules | 654 kJ |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Carbohydrate | 1,5 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
Micronutrients per 100 g
All measured nutrients, ranked by share of the daily reference intake.
- DHA2,3 g920 %
- Vitamin B1213 µg520 %
- EPA0,84 g336 %
- Vitamin D14 µg280 %
- Total omega-33,21 g128 %
- Selenium30 µg55 %
- Iodine64 µg43 %
- Phosphorus280 mg40 %
See the other 16 nutrients
- Vitamin B35,9 mg37 %
- Calcium250 mg31 %
- Vitamin B20,33 mg24 %
- Vitamin E2,5 mg21 %
- Vitamin B60,27 mg19 %
- Iron2,5 mg18 %
- Copper0,16 mg16 %
- Potassium310 mg16 %
- Vitamin B50,85 mg14 %
- Zinc1,3 mg13 %
- Magnesium29 mg8 %
- Manganese0,11 mg6 %
- Omega-3 ALA0,07 g4 %
- Omega-6 LA0,12 g1 %
- Vitamin B10,01 mg1 %
- Vitamin A7 µg1 %
Anses Ciqual 2025. Source: Anses, 2025, Ciqual food composition table
Tips
3.21 g of omega-3: no other fish in the database does better. That includes 2.3 g of DHA, the fatty acid used directly by the brain and the retina. A 120 g tin easily covers the weekly portion of oily fish recommended by Anses (the French food safety agency).
250 mg of calcium, thanks to the bones. Softened by sterilisation, they are eaten with the flesh. A tin provides 300 mg of calcium, more than a third of the reference intake, the equivalent of a yoghurt.
14 µg of vitamin D and 13 µg of B12. Three and five times the reference intakes respectively. Few foods combine such levels of these two vitamins.
A small fish, very little mercury. Unlike tuna, the pilchard is low in the food chain: it accumulates practically nothing. You can make it a habit.
1 g of salt, and the tomato sauce adds more. Drain it and do not salt the dish. This is the only point of caution for an otherwise remarkable product, and one of the cheapest on the shelf.