Coronavirus Side Effect: Seafood Sales Spike

The coronavirus and the nationwide shutdown that followed have people exploring food options they may have forgotten about or never tried...including seafood. NBC's Dan Scheneman reports.

(NBC News) The COVID-19 pandemic has forced Americans to think about what they touch, breathe and eat.

“People are starting to finally connect the dots to realize that, that if you really want to live a healthy, vibrant life, you know, your diet is critical,” says Sean Wittenberg, cofounder of the Safe Catch seafood company.

Wittenberg says that’s also good for his business and with many restaurants closed shoppers are giving a classic product a fresh look.

“For us, and shelf stable seafood, canned fish, is a particularly exciting time for us to meet new customers,” he says.

While the pandemic has helped domestic seafood sales surge, in China there is a snag. Beijing is limiting salmon imports, citing COVID-19 fears.

“China’s creating a narrative to posture the other way where they can say ‘Well we’re not going to take U.S. goods because we’re concerned about this issue,’ when I think it’s more political than it is legitimate food safety concerns,” Wittenberg says.

Wittenberg says the products and the people who process it are tested regularly.

“I think that the more testing we do the more comfortable people are that we have everything under control,” he says.

And that means the what’s on the plate is both safe and healthy.

More here.