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Delicious, nutritious and close to the nation’s heart
What is it about fish and chips that makes them the number one takeaway in the UK?  Is it the wonderful aroma, their unrivalled flavour, the warm comforting feeling that they provide, or simply their natural golden good looks?

Fish and chips from fish and chip shops are freshly prepared from natural products.  Fillets of fish, mostly haddock or cod but sometimes plaice and whiting, are covered in batter, fried until golden and served with freshly chipped potatoes.  Fish and chips are a wholesome dish and lower in calories than many of their fast food rivals.  They have been recommended by doctors for pregnant women and were one of the only foods not to be rationed during the war.  Historians even argue that fish and chips helped us to win the Second World War.

Britain’s favourite accompaniment to fish and chips is salt and vinegar but depending on the region, others are just as popular… mushy peas, tomato ketchup, curry sauce, gravy, or even a bottle of stout.  Strange but true, the Chinese are so sweet on our fish and chips that they serve them with sugar.

With more than 250 million fish and chip shop meals (featuring fish) consumed a year, the traditional dish of fish and chips is still top of the league of Britain's favourite fast foods.

• Fish and chips are a big favourite for family takeaway meals. They're nearly four times more popular than Indian curries
• The sector employs some 61,000 people
• Nearly 70% of us take our fish and chips home to eat
• Cod is the most popular fish sold in fish and chip shops, accounting for 61.5% of fish sold, followed by Haddock at 25%. Other white fish such as Plaice are also popular
• Some shops offer locally landed fish depending on what is available in the market place, but the vast majority of the cod and haddock sold in fish and chip shops come from the sustainable waters of the Barents Sea and Iceland.
• More than one in six of us can't resist going to the fish and chip shop at least once a week. Those from Yorkshire have the biggest cravings
• Fish and chip shops sell 424.8 million meals a year, that's seven meals from a fish and chip shop each year for every man, woman and child in the UK
• 58% of these are fish and chips. This amounts to 255 million fish and chip meals a year
• £1.2 billion a year is spent in them - that means 1 in every 100 food pounds is spent at a fish and chip shop
• They outsell Indian takeaways on a meal basis by four to one - and fish suppers outsell by two to one
• Fish and chips have 9.42 grams of fat per 100 grams. Beating all other takeaways - the average pizza has 11, Big Mac meal with Medium fries has 12.1, Whopper meal with medium fries has 14.5, chicken korma 15.5 and doner kebab 16.2
• The same goes for calories - 595 in the average portion - where the average pizza has 871, Big Mac meal with medium fries 888, Whopper meal with medium fries 892, chicken korma 910 and doner kebab 924.

Fish and chips are a valuable source of protein, fibre, iron and vitamins, providing a third of the recommended daily allowance of vitamins for men and nearly half for women.

Comparing fish and chips with other take away foods provides a few surprises in the nutritional stakes. The following nutritional information was given a Certificate of Analysis by Durham County Council's Scientific Services Laboratory.