Household Ingredients Compared  ›  Canned Mackerel and Other Canned Fish (Singapore)

Canned mackerel and other canned fish: what's actually in it?

Canned fish is not one product. A mackerel in tomato sauce is fish in a sauce that may or may not contain sugar and palm oil. A mackerel fillet in olive oil is fish, oil and salt — and a saba (Pacific mackerel) flake in mala sauce is a minced, spiced product with soya bean oil, sugar, black bean and a dozen flavourings. Canned salmon is usually just salmon and salt; canned anchovies are fish, oil and salt, but with far more salt per 100 g than any other can on this page. This page covers canned mackerel, canned herring, canned salmon, canned anchovies, canned squid/octopus and other canned fish sold in Singapore. It does not cover canned tuna, canned sardines or canned luncheon meat — those have their own pages — and it does not give a health score or a "best" pick.

Two honest limits up front. First, no canned herring and no canned squid or octopus were found for sale in Singapore in the channels checked in this pass — that is a finding, not an omission, and it is recorded below rather than filled with European herring or Japanese squid cans that are not sold here. Second, the FairPrice canned-fish shelf is much wider than the panelled rows: Rizzoli, Nextrade, Sunko, Zarotti and La Curiosa mackerel are all listed at FairPrice, but no verbatim ingredient list was retrievable for any of them in this pass, so they sit in seen-but-not-verified until a pack photo closes them.

The headline, in 30 seconds

• The plainest mackerel is fish + oil + salt. Ayam Mackerel Fillet in Extra Virgin Olive Oil is 70% mackerel, 29% EVOO, salt — and Stock Merchant's Wild Mackerel in organic EVOO (Little Farms) is the same pattern at 70.8% / 29%.
• Ordinary mackerel in tomato sauce is not the same as the fillet in tomato sauce. Ayam's whole mackerel in tomato sauce (55% fish, tomato paste 13%, sustainable palm oil, salt, xanthan gum) has no added sugar; the Scottish fillet in tomato sauce (65% fish, water, canola oil, tomato puree 9%) adds sugar, modified tapioca starch, citric acid, paprika and capsicum.
• Fried mackerel in chilli is the sweetest mackerel panelled. Ayam Fried Mackerel with Chilli lists sugar and, on the Malaysian nutrition panel, 11.6 g total sugars per 100 g — against 2.0 g carbohydrate per 100 g for the plain tomato can.
• Saba is a different fish with different lists. Ayam's saba (Pacific mackerel) flakes come in EVOO, chilli and mala — the mala can is a minced, spiced product with soya bean oil, sugar, salted black bean, Szechuan peppercorns and xanthan gum. Do not compare it gram-for-gram with a whole-fillet can.
• Canned salmon is the shortest list on the page. John West Pink and Red Salmon are salmon (99%) and salt — but both lists are flagged non-SG brand lists for SG-sold cans, not SG pack transcriptions.
• Anchovies are the saltiest cans on the page, by a long way. Ortiz Anchovies in Olive Oil 55g (Little Farms) prints salt 11.4 g per 100 g — sodium 4,560 mg per 100 g — against 208–337 mg sodium per 100 g for the Ayam mackerel cans. The two Ortiz fillet sizes (47.5g can, 95g jar) have a different, shorter list — anchovies, olive oil, salt — with no sunflower oil.
• Mackerel ≠ jack mackerel. Princes sells both: ordinary mackerel fillets in tomato sauce (169 kcal per 100 g) and jack mackerel fillets in tomato sauce (91 kcal per 100 g). They are different fish with different nutrition, and both are flagged UK listings — neither is verified as sold in Singapore.

At a glance

Panelled with verbatim lists: 17 products. Of these, 10 are SG-retailer or SG-brand-site lists (Ayam mackerel ×4, Ayam Saba Mala, Stock Merchant mackerel, Ortiz anchovies ×3, Raw Materials white anchovies), 2 are secondary-source lists for SG-sold Ayam Saba (EVOO, Chilli), and 5 are flagged non-SG lists (Ayam tomato-can MY list, Princes ×2 UK, King Oscar US, John West salmon ×2 UK/AU). Seen-but-not-verified: 33 entries — see the list below. No canned herring and no canned squid/octopus were found in the Singapore channels checked.

Prices are deliberately not shown here: they change weekly and would go stale. This site compares ingredients only.

Mackerel in tomato sauce — whole fish

Mackerel fillets — Scottish, in tomato sauce or olive oil

Fried mackerel in chilli sauce

Saba — Pacific mackerel flakes

Saba is the Japanese term for Pacific mackerel. Ayam's saba range is minced flakes, not whole fillets, and the three flavours below are different products — do not assume the EVOO can's short list applies to the chilli or mala cans.

Other mackerel — Little Farms and flagged non-SG listings

Canned salmon

Canned anchovies

Canned herring and canned squid / octopus — none found in Singapore in this pass

No canned herring was found for sale in Singapore in the channels checked (FairPrice, Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong, Don Don Donki, Mustafa, Meidi-Ya, Le Petit Depot, Little Farms, RedMart, Lazada, Shopee Singapore). European herring cans (Appel, Hawesta, Nixe, Edeka) exist on Open Food Facts, but all are sold in Germany/France with no Singapore sale found — they are not panelled here, and no herring row is invented from them.

No canned squid or canned octopus was found for sale in Singapore in the channels checked either. Don Don Donki sells ready-to-eat grilled squid and steamed octopus and takoyaki (octopus balls) as deli items — those are not canned retail products and are not panelled here. If a canned squid or octopus product appears on a Singapore shelf, it should be added as its own row with a pack list, not inferred from a deli item.

FairPrice — the extensive canned-fish shelf (inventory, 5–6 Nov 2026)

FairPrice's "similar products" listings for canned mackerel show a wider shelf than the panelled rows above. FairPrice publishes an ingredient section only sometimes, and for the brands below no ingredient section was retrieved in this pass, so this section is an inventory, not panels. Nothing below is panelled from FairPrice's site; the items that could be panelled from other sources are panelled above, and the rest stay seen-but-not-verified until pack photos close them.

• Nextrade Saba (Japan): Saba Misoni (miso-seasoned), Saba Mizuni (water-seasoned), Saba Shoyuni (soy-seasoned) — all 180g canned mackerel.
• Rizzoli: Mackerel Fillets in Olive Oil 125g, in Brine 125g, Smoked 90g, Spicy Recipe, in Brine with Lemon.
• Sunko: Mackerel in Tomato Sauce 425g (and Sunko Sardine in Tomato Sauce — sardines, separate page).
• Zarotti: Mackerel Fillets in Olive Oil.
• La Curiosa: Mackerel Fillets in Olive Oil with Lemon Thyme; Mackerel Fillets with Olive Oil, Curry & Chilli; Horse Mackerel Fillets in Olive Oil & Parsley.
• Also on the same FairPrice listings: Kirei Nissui Iwashi (sardines — separate page), Lulina / Rio Mare / Jose Gourmet sardines (separate page), and Ayam mackerel (panelled above).

Seen but not verified — do not panel until checked

• King Cup Mackerel in Tomato Sauce 155g / 425g — listed on Shopee Singapore; no ingredient list retrieved (seller listings give recipes/descriptions only, as with King Cup sardines). Needs a pack photo.
• Sunko Mackerel in Tomato Sauce 425g — FairPrice listing, no ingredient section retrieved.
• Nextrade Saba Misoni 180g, Saba Mizuni 180g, Saba Shoyuni 180g — FairPrice listings, no ingredient lists retrieved.
• Rizzoli Mackerel Fillets in Olive Oil 125g, in Brine 125g, Smoked 90g, Spicy Recipe, in Brine with Lemon — FairPrice listings, no ingredient lists retrieved for any of them.
• Zarotti Mackerel Fillets in Olive Oil — FairPrice listing, no ingredient list retrieved.
• La Curiosa Mackerel Fillets in Olive Oil with Lemon Thyme; Mackerel Fillets with Olive Oil, Curry & Chilli; Horse Mackerel Fillets in Olive Oil & Parsley — FairPrice listings, no ingredient lists retrieved for any of them.
• Ayam Saba Flakes in Mayonnaise 160g — Ayam SG range lists it, but the only list retrieved in this pass is incomplete (it names the flakes, soya bean oil, water chestnuts, onion and pickled cucumber, with no mayonnaise system) — do not panel an incomplete list. Needs a pack photo.
• Ayam Fried Mackerel in Black Beans 150g — listed on the Ayam Malaysia site (fried mackerel, sugar, garlic, soya sauce with soya beans, salt, wheat/gluten), but not in the Ayam Singapore mackerel range retrieved — SG sale not confirmed. Do not use the MY list as the SG list.
• Smiling Fish Fried Mackerel in Chili Sauce 155g — a Thai horse-mackerel product (horse mackerels, water, palm oil, sugar, chilli, salt, distilled vinegar, soybeans, wheat flour) sold through Asian grocery channels; no Singapore retail listing with a pack list was verified in this pass.
• Roza Mackerel in Tomato Sauce (Thailand) — Open Food Facts Thailand listing (mackerel 65%, tomato sauce 30%, iodised salt, palm oil, guar gum); no Singapore sale confirmed.
• King Oscar Royal Fillets Mediterranean Style Mackerel — US listing exists (mackerel, olive oil, olives, EVOO, red bell pepper, Herbs of Provence, salt, garlic), but no Singapore sale verified; not panelled.
• La Belle-iloise mackerel — French listings exist (e.g. mackerel émietté with herbs and Menton lemon, 80g), but no Little Farms Singapore mackerel listing was found in this pass; only its sardines are confirmed at Little Farms. Not panelled.
• Dish The Fish Wild Canned Sockeye Salmon 170g (Shopee SG official store) — the seller description says "Only wild BC Sockeye Salmon and sea salt", but that is a reseller description, not a pack transcription or brand-site list, so it is not panelled. Needs a pack photo.
• Pams Pink Salmon 105g (Shopee SG) — reseller description only ("Pink Salmon (99%) (Fish), Salt"); not panelled. Needs a pack photo.
• John West Skinless & Boneless Salmon Tempters 95g — Springwater, Naturally Smoked, Tomato & Onion — Shopee SG listings, no ingredient lists retrieved for any flavour. (The plain springwater salmon list from Spoonful/Check Labels — salmon 60%, springwater, salt, paprika oleoresins — is a different, Australian-market product and is not used here.)
• John West Salmon Slices 125g — Springwater, Smoked — Shopee SG listings, no ingredient lists retrieved.
• Princes Red Salmon and Pink Salmon — UK lists exist (red salmon, salt; pink salmon, salt), but no Singapore sale was verified in this pass. Not panelled.
• Banga Smoked Salmon (plain and Lemon Flavour) — Shopee SG reseller listings give "Salmon, Rapeseed Oil, Salt" (lemon adds "Lemon Spice"), but those are reseller descriptions, not pack transcriptions. Not panelled.
• Ortiz Boquerones (white anchovies) — European retailer lists exist (anchovy, EVOO, sunflower oil, white wine vinegar, sea salt, garlic, parsley), but no Singapore sale was verified; Little Farms sells Raw Materials white anchovies instead. Not panelled.
• House-brand and other-channel canned mackerel / salmon / anchovies — Giant, Sheng Siong, Cold Storage, Don Don Donki, Mustafa, Meidi-Ya, Le Petit Depot, RedMart, Lazada and Shopee Singapore ranges were not inventoried with verified lists in this pass; an in-store check is needed, as Cold Storage publishes no ingredient lists and FairPrice only sometimes does.

Nutrition — what the numbers say

All figures in the table are as sold, per 100 g, unless the Basis column says otherwise. Sugars are total sugars as printed, not added sugars, unless the source states added sugars — the ingredient list remains the evidence for added sugar. No official Singapore Nutri-Grade (A–D) was found printed on any of these cans in this pass, so none is quoted here; no grade has been assigned. Salt and sodium: salt = sodium × 2.5. The table shows sodium as printed (in mg) with the salt equivalent in brackets; where the source prints salt only, sodium is calculated as salt ÷ 2.5 and labelled as calculated. Sodium is not presented as salt, and salt is not presented as sodium.

Drained vs total contents: none of the Ayam panels state drained vs total contents, so that basis is not assumed for them. The Princes nutrition is as sold per 100 g (a drained figure is also published for the ordinary mackerel — 173 kcal per 100 g drained — and is noted in the research notes, not used in the table). The King Oscar nutrition is per drained serving only and is therefore not in the table.

Open Food Facts is a community database and is flagged as secondary where used: the pack and the retailer nutrition section take precedence if they disagree. Figures marked "not stated" were not in the source retrieved; they are not estimated, borrowed from another variant, or copied across flavours or sizes.

Observed numbers, no verdict: energy in this table ranges from 91 kcal per 100 g (Princes Jack Mackerel) to 285 kcal per 100 g (Ayam Mackerel Fillet EVOO). Total sugars range from 0 g per 100 g (Ortiz Anchovies 55g) to 11.6 g per 100 g (Ayam Fried Mackerel with Chilli, MY panel). Sodium ranges from 208 mg per 100 g (Ayam Mackerel Fillet Tomato Sauce) to 4,560 mg per 100 g (Ortiz Anchovies 55g, calculated from printed salt 11.4 g) — the anchovy figure is an order of magnitude above every other row, and it is a salt-cured product, not a plain fish-in-oil can. Protein ranges from 12.9 g per 100 g (Princes Jack Mackerel) to 28 g per 100 g (Ortiz Anchovies 55g).

Seen but not verified (nutrition): no per-100 g nutrition panel was verified in this pass for Ayam Saba Flakes in EVOO 150g, Saba Flakes in Chilli 160g, Saba Flakes in Mala Sauce 160g, The Stock Merchant Wild Mackerel in Organic EVOO 120g, John West Wild Alaskan Red Salmon 105g, Ortiz Anchovy Fillets in Olive Oil 47.5g and 95g jar, and Raw Materials Marinated White Anchovies 200g. Their ingredient panels are unchanged; their nutrition figures are not estimated here, and the Ortiz 55g figures are not copied onto the 47.5g or 95g fillets. King Oscar Royal Fillets Mackerel in Olive Oil is also not in the table: its US nutrition is per drained 80g serving only (240 kcal, 19g fat, 350mg sodium per serving) and is not converted to per 100 g.

How to read a canned-fish label — the jargon, in plain English

Mackerel vs jack mackerel vs horse mackerel vs saba

Ordinary mackerel is a fatty Atlantic fish. Jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) and horse mackerel are different, leaner fish in the same family — Princes' jack mackerel has about half the energy of its ordinary mackerel. Saba is the Japanese name for Pacific mackerel, sold here as minced flakes. The can should name the fish; if it just says "mackerel", check the species in the small print if it matters to you.

Fillet vs whole fish vs flakes

A fillet is a boneless cut; a whole-fish can contains the fish with bones (soft after canning); flakes are minced fish. The form changes the texture and the sauce share, not just the size.

In tomato sauce vs in tomato paste

"Tomato paste" plus water and salt is a short sauce (Ayam whole mackerel). "Tomato puree" with canola oil, sugar, starch and paprika is a fuller, sweeter sauce (Ayam fillet). Read the sauce's own ingredients, not just the front label.

Sustainable palm oil / RSPO

Palm oil certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. It is a sustainability claim about the oil's sourcing, not a different ingredient — the can still contains palm oil.

Xanthan gum / INS 415 / vegetable gum / modified tapioca starch

Thickeners that keep a tomato or chilli sauce coating the fish instead of running watery. Xanthan gum is INS 415; "vegetable gum (415)" on the Australian Ayam list is the same thing.

Salt-cured anchovies vs marinated white anchovies

Ortiz anchovies are cured in rock salt for months, then packed in oil — very salty, umami, firm. White anchovies are marinated in vinegar and oil — milder, softer, and sold chilled. They are not interchangeable in a recipe.

MSC

Marine Stewardship Council certification — a sustainability claim about the fishery, not an ingredient or a taste claim.

EVOO

Extra virgin olive oil — the highest-grade olive oil, cold-extracted. On a canned-fish tin it is the packing liquid, not a cooking ingredient.

Drained vs total contents

Some nutrition panels are per 100 g as sold (fish + liquid), others per 100 g drained (fish only). The table states the basis for each row; a per-serving or drained-only figure is never converted to per-100 g as sold.

What this page is not

• Not a health score, and not a mercury, omega-3 or sustainability ranking. Omega-3 figures are the brands' claims, quoted as such in the research notes, not compared here.
• Not a taste test, and not a price comparison. Prices change weekly; ingredients change less often, but still change.
• Not complete. The FairPrice Rizzoli / Nextrade / Sunko / Zarotti / La Curiosa shelf, King Cup mackerel, the John West salmon Tempters and slices, and the Giant / Sheng Siong / Cold Storage / Donki / Mustafa / Meidi-Ya / Le Petit Depot ranges are the biggest gaps — they are listed above as seen-but-not-verified, for the verification reasons given, not hidden. No canned herring and no canned squid/octopus were found in Singapore in this pass.

Sources and method

Checked 5–6 November 2026 from: Ayam Brand Singapore official site (Mackerel Fillet Tomato Sauce, Mackerel Fillet EVOO, Fried Mackerel with Chilli, Saba Flakes in Mala Sauce, and the SG mackerel/saba range lists); Ayam Brand Malaysia official site (Mackerel in Tomato Sauce, Fried Mackerel in Chilli Sauce — flagged as MY lists for SG-sold cans); Little Farms product pages (Stock Merchant Wild Mackerel, Ortiz Anchovies 55g / Anchovy Fillets 47.5g / 95g, Raw Materials Marinated White Anchovies); FairPrice similar-products listings (Nextrade, Rizzoli, Sunko, Zarotti, La Curiosa inventory only — no ingredient sections retrieved); Cold Storage category listing (John West Pink Salmon 105g, inventory only); Shopee Singapore listings (John West Red Salmon 105g, John West Tempters/slices, Dish The Fish sockeye, Pams pink salmon, Banga salmon, King Cup mackerel — descriptions only, not panelled as lists); Tesco UK (Princes mackerel and jack mackerel lists and nutrition); Ocado UK (John West Pink Salmon list and nutrition); John West Australia official site (Red Salmon list); US retailers (King Oscar mackerel list and per-serving nutrition); Open Food Facts (Princes older list, Roza, La Belle-iloise mackerel — secondary, flagged). Full per-fact source list is in the accompanying research notes. Nutrition section added 5–6 November 2026: figures are standardised to per 100 g where the source gives per-100 figures; per-serving-only figures are labelled as such and are not converted; sugars are total sugars as printed, not added sugars, unless the source states added sugars; salt = sodium × 2.5. Where a full pack list could not be verified, the product is in seen-but-not-verified instead of being panelled. A web-search rate limit during this pass blocked a second batch of brand searches (Rizzoli, Nextrade, Sunko, La Curiosa) and one page fetch failed on a local worker error — those brands are therefore inventoried from the FairPrice listings already retrieved, not panelled, and the gap is stated here rather than filled from memory.