CROOKED BORDER CZAR

‘Release the Tapes’: Lawmakers Demand Answers Over Alleged $50,000 Bribe of Trump Border Czar Tom Homan

“Seriously though, has anyone ever been handed $50,000 cash in a paper bag for something legit?”


White House border czar Tom Homan speaks while joined by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, during a press briefing at the White House, on Monday, April 28, 2025 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Al Drago for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Jon Queally
Sep 21, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

Accusations of supreme corruption, demands for an investigation, and calls for impeachment proceedings for several high-level Trump administration officials erupted on Saturday after it was reported that a Justice Department probe into Tom Homan, who serves as President Donald Trump’s border czar, was dropped despite documented evidence he accepted a bribe of $50,000 delivered in a bag by undercover FBI agents as part of a sting operation.

Citing multiple people “familiar with the probe,” a review of internal documents, MSNBC was the first to report that during “an undercover operation last year, the FBI recorded Tom Homan [...] accepting $50,000 in cash after indicating he could help the agents—who were posing as business executives—win government contracts in a second Trump administration.”

The New York Times, which also spoke to people familiar with the case, reported that the “cash payment, which was made inside a bag from the food chain Cava, grew out of a long-running counterintelligence investigation that had not been targeting Mr. Homan,” and that the encounter, as MSNBC also reported, was recorded. The Times indicates that the recording was audio, while MSNBC‘s version of the evidence suggests that video footage exists.

“Americans deserve disclosure of evidence showing top DHS official Homan accepting a bag full of $50,000 in cash We need to know why the investigation was dropped—all the facts and evidence.” —Sen. Richard Blumenthal

The case implicates both FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney Pam Bondi, who heads the Justice Department. Both were appointed by Trump and are deeply loyal to him politically.

MSNBC reports:
It’s unclear what reasons FBI and Justice Department officials gave for shutting down the investigation. But a Trump Justice Department appointee called the case a “deep state” probe in early 2025 and no further investigative steps were taken, the sources say.

On Sept. 20, 2024, with hidden cameras recording the scene at a meeting spot in Texas, Homan accepted $50,000 in bills, according to an internal summary of the case and sources.

The federal investigation was launched in western Texas in the summer of 2024 after a subject in a separate investigation claimed Homan was soliciting payments in exchange for awarding contracts should Trump win the presidential election, according to an internal Justice Department summary of the probe reviewed by MSNBC and people familiar with the case. The U.S. Attorney’s office in the Western District of Texas, working with the FBI, asked the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section to join its ongoing probe “into the Border Czar and former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan and others based on evidence of payment from FBI undercover agents in exchange for facilitating future contracts related to border enforcement.”

The revelations prompted Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) to declare that Trump’s second term is the “most corrupt administration we have ever seen.”

Matt Duss, executive vice-president at the Center for International Policy, asked: “Seriously though, has anyone ever been handed $50,000 cash in a paper bag for something legit?”

While that’s not a legal standard, news of the dropped case against Homan, given his central role in Trump’s ramped-up attacks on migrants and communities nationwide, sparked an array of outrage, many questions, and a demand for more answers from the Justice Department.

“Who’s the illegal now, Tom Homan?” asked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).




“Tom Homan should be fired immediately and charged,” said Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.). “Kash Patel should be suspended pending impeachment proceedings, and anyone who aided in this cover-up should be held accountable. Homan’s relationship with GEO Group, who own Delaney Hall in Newark, should be thoroughly investigated, and the facility closed pending that investigation. The amount of corruption in this administration is endless.”

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) had a similar reaction. “Corruption that’s stunning even for this administration,” Markey said. “Homan and anyone who knew and covered this up must resign.”

As the Times reporting notes, the “episode raises questions about whether the administration has sought to shield one of its own officials from legal consequences, and whether Mr. Homan’s actions were considered by the White House when he was appointed to his government role.”

In response to questions from MSNBC and the Times, Trump officials downplayed the seriousness of the case. They said that after it was investigated, the bribery allegations did not stand up.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson told MSNBC the probe that led to the recording of Homan was a “blatantly political investigation.” However, it’s clear from the reporting that the original investigation was not targeting Homan at all.

In a joint statement issued Saturday, Patel and Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, said the investigation “was subjected to a full review by F.B.I. agents and Justice Department prosecutors. They found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing.”

That hardly satisfied Democrats in Congress, who said it’s clear the public has a right to know every detail about what occurred and why the case was dropped.

“Release the tapes—Americans deserve disclosure of evidence showing top DHS official Homan accepting a bag full of $50,000 in cash,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “We need to know why the investigation was dropped—all the facts and evidence.”

Trump official accused of bribery scheme now faces 'another legal hazard': experts

David McAfee
September 21, 2025 

RAW STORY


U.S. President Donald Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

A Donald Trump official who reportedly was under investigation for accepting a bribe now has "another legal hazard" to look forward to, according to experts.

Raw Story reported on Saturday about a MSNBC exclusive in which the outlet claimed that Trump border czar Tom Homan had previously been investigated for accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents. That caused U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to issue a stinging four-word response to Homan.

It also caused a senator to declare that Attorney General Pam Bondi "knew" about the reported bribery operation.

But legal experts warned that Homan might not be out of the woods yet, even if charges were never brought.

Constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis said, "Your occasional reminder that bribes are reportable income."

Former Bush adviser David Frum chimed in, "If Tom Homan accepted $50,000 in cash in September 2024, that money should have been declared on his tax return in April 2025. If not, that's another legal hazard for him."

Brendan Fischer wrote, "It is unclear whether Homan held on to the $50k bribe, or whether he disclosed the payment on his financial disclosure report, which requires that he report all clients who paid him over $5k/year."

Other users asked Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, about the purported non-disclosure. Grok responded, "There's no public info on whether Tom Homan claimed the alleged $50,000 as income on his taxes. The 2024 FBI probe was closed in 2025 by the Trump DOJ, citing insufficient evidence for charges, according to MSNBC, Politico, and NYT reports. Tax details remain private."

Ex-Trump 'fixer' slams Tom Homan for selling America's borders 'to the highest bidder'

Robert Davis
September 21, 2025 

RAW STORY

Shutterstock

President Donald Trump's former "fixer" roasted the administration's border czar on Sunday for accepting a $50,000 bribe in a restaurant to-go bag.

Michael Cohen, who was once described as Trump's personal "fixer," penned an op-ed on Sunday criticizing Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, for allegedly accepting a $50,000 bribe as a private citizen from undercover FBI agents. Legal experts have said the event presents several legal pitfalls for Homan, even though the FBI declined to indict him after Trump was elected.

"He loved the image of the tough cop, the no-nonsense border enforcer. But what we’re seeing now strips that image down to what it always was: a performance," Cohen wrote. "Behind the scenes, Homan wasn’t protecting America’s borders. He was selling them off to the highest bidder."

According to a MSNBC report, Homan allegedly promised to help the FBI agents with government contracts once he was in office. The FBI planned to wait and see if Homan would deliver on the promise before charging him, the outlet reported.

The White House, Justice Department, and FBI all dismissed the investigation as politically motivated and baseless, MSNBC News reported. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the investigation has revealed “no credible evidence of wrongdoing.”

"What do you call a video of a man pocketing $50,000 in cash and offering government contracts in return?" Cohen wrote. "If that isn’t credible, then nothing is."

"That money was a down payment," he added. "A test. A handshake sealed in cash. And Homan took it."

Read the entire essay by clicking here.

 

Dental care reflects overall health for college students, study finds

Mason: Health Starts Here cohort study that follows students across their undergraduate years, reveals several health patterns

George Mason University

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For undergraduates, a trip to the dentist can reflect more than oral health. Those who kept up with dental exams were also more likely to schedule eye and physical exams, carry health insurance, and rate their overall health more positively, according to new study. 

“We can think of primary care as a kind of gateway to other preventive care and specialized services,” said Vanessa Alvarez, the study’s lead author and a second-year MPH Epidemiology student at George Mason University’s College of Public Health. “When students maintain the habit of seeing one type of provider regularly, it seems to spill over into how they approach their health more broadly.” 

Alvarez conducted the study with renowned obesity researcher Lawrence Cheskin, professor of nutrition at George Mason. Cheskin is co-principal investigator of Mason: Health Starts Here, the university’s landmark cohort study following students across their four undergraduate years. 

The dental care study analyzed data from 349 first-year students enrolled in the cohort. The research found that: 

• Students who had a dental exam before college were much more likely to keep up the habit two years later. 

• Health insurance predicted dental visits at baseline, and students who got one type of preventive exam (dental, eye, or physical) were more likely to get the others. 

• Students who had dental exams, more parental financial support, and higher levels of hope also rated their overall health more positively. 

• Dental exam rates held steady from before to after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Researchers also noted a complex relationship with anxiety. Students reporting mild anxiety were sometimes more likely to seek dental care, but higher anxiety correlated with avoiding preventive exams. “It’s not a straight-line relationship,” explained Cheskin. “If you’re a little bit anxious, it may motivate you to see a doctor. If you’re very anxious, you may avoid it.” 

The bigger picture of student health 

The dental study is just one slice of Mason: Health Starts Here, the university’s first-of-its-kind longitudinal study tracking the health and habits of undergraduates. Since 2019, more than a thousand George Mason students have enrolled and completed detailed surveys, with some taking physical exams. Researchers monitor everything from diet and exercise to sleep, mental health, and substance use, returning health feedback to participants along the way. 

Findings from the cohort data so far have shed light on links between discrimination and disordered eating, how loneliness affects diet and physical activity, and the intersection of firearm access and substance use, among other topics. 

Several new studies are now underway. As a companion to the dental research, Alvarez is now leading a study on eye exams, while other researchers are looking into gynecological care among female students. Cheskin says future work will also focus on how diet and exercise habits changed from pre- to post-pandemic, and on mental health trends such as depression and hopefulness. 

Related articles: 

• Loneliness associated with unhealthful diets and physical inactivity among U.S. college students
• New Study Finds that College Freshmen Exceed Many U.S. Dietary Guidelines, Increasing Risk of Chronic Health Conditions 

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Journal

Dental Research and Oral Health

DOI

10.26502/droh.0096 

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Home Aims & Scope Editorial Board Article Preparation Guidelines Online submission Articles Early View Current Issue Archive Membership Reprints Abstracting and Indexing PubMed indexed Google Scholar CrossRef WorldCat Semantic Scholar ResearchGate Academic Keys DRJI Microsoft Academic Academia.edu Scribd OpenAIRE Predictors of Dental Care Services Before and After the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic among undergraduates at a U.S. University

 

Halting COVID-related SNAP benefits left families struggling to afford food, household expenses

A new study found that families experienced greater difficulty affording adequate food and household expenses after states began to lift emergency SNAP benefits that were provided to families at the start of the pandemic.

Boston University School of Public Health

The US Congressional Budget Office estimates that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will cut $186 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over the next decade, sparking concerns among health experts about how this reduction in funding will affect food and economic security among the 47 million families who rely on this critical assistance.

As these changes begin to unfold, a new study builds upon a growing body of data that capture the detrimental consequences of reducing SNAP assistance. 

Published in the journal Preventive Medicine, the study explores food insufficiency and financial challenges among families after multiple states stopped providing emergency allotments of SNAP benefits provided during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. SNAP benefit reductions were associated with increased difficulty affording both food and household expenses among SNAP-participant families, particularly among those with children.

The risk of food insufficiency—a narrow measure that indicates that a household has not had enough food to eat within the past seven days—increased by five percentage points after several states ended their emergency allotments in 2021, compared to states that ended this assistance later. Similarly, the risk of difficulty affording household expenses increased by eight percentage points after the emergency allotments ended.

These findings demonstrate the vital role of SNAP, which is the largest food and nutrition assistance program in the country, and the research team hopes that these data can inform future policies and discussions around the adequacy of the SNAP benefit amount to support the health and well-being of families.

“Our study found that states choosing to end the SNAP emergency allotments early created more pressure on family budgets, not just for affording food but also spillovers to difficulty affording other expenses,” says study senior author Dr. Paul Shafer, associate professor of health law, policy & management. “Households with children faced a greater increase in food insufficiency than those without, foreshadowing what we may expect with SNAP cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

For the study, Dr. Shafer and colleagues utilized data from the nationally representative Household Pulse Survey to measure and compare changes in the risk of food insufficiency and difficulty affording household expenses among 5,685 people living in four states that ended SNAP emergency allotments in 2021 (Florida, Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota) and 10,773 people living in eight states that ended these allotments in 2022 (Iowa, Arizona, Kentucky, Wyoming, Indiana, Georgia, Alaska, South Carolina, and South Carolina). The expanded SNAP assistance ended nationwide when the federal government lifted the COVID-19 public health emergency in May 2023. 

Food insufficiency was assessed with questions about the type of food households consumed within the last seven days, as well as how often families had enough to eat. Difficulty affording expenses was determined based on whether households were able to pay for standard expenses such as rent or mortgage, car payments, and medical expenses. 

Beyond physical health and development, even brief disruptions in access to food can affect mental and emotional health, particularly among children, the researchers emphasize. 

“Participating in SNAP helps in ways that go beyond just food on the table,” Dr. Shafer says. “Being food insecure is associated with higher rates of stress and depression. SNAP assistance supports the health of families and their housing, and helps avoid developmental risks in children.”

In addition to funding cuts, the OBBB implements several changes to SNAP eligibility, including expanded work reporting requirements for older adults, parents of children over age 14, parents, veterans, and the unhoused, as well as significant shifting of benefit and administrative costs from the federal government to the states. 

How states choose to respond will be key, says Dr. Shafer.

“States could cut eligibility or opt out altogether, or have to cut other state programs to offset the cost,” he says. More people being subject to work reporting requirements, including 55-64 year olds, veterans, and unhoused people, will yield an estimated 2.4 million Americans falling through the cracks. Furthermore, food pantries—which are already overburdened—won’t be able to absorb the additional need, which means even more people will face food insecurity and hunger.”

Tracking how these major changes to SNAP benefits and to the structure of the program affect families’ health and their ability to make ends meet will be essential going forward, says study coauthor Dr. Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, research associate professor of health law, policy & management. 

“Tariffs, inflation, and growing unemployment are additional stressors on the purchasing power of SNAP that will be important to evaluate in real time,” Dr. Ettinger de Cuba says. “Given what we already know from past changes to the program, I am concerned that SNAP will not be able to respond as it was designed—to grow during hard times and shrink in good times—ultimately increasing hardship for everyday people.”

** 

About Boston University School of Public Health 

Founded in 1976, Boston University School of Public Health is one of the top ten ranked schools of public health in the world. It offers master's- and doctoral-level education in public health. The faculty in six departments conduct policy-changing public health research around the world, with the mission of improving the health of populations—especially the disadvantaged, underserved, and vulnerable—locally and globally.

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Journal

Preventive Medicine

DOI

10.1016/j.ypmed.2025.108385 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Food insufficiency and difficulty affording expenses after the end of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program emergency allotments in the United States among households with and without children

 

Heatwaves in US rivers increasing up to four times faster than air heatwaves

Penn State

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A Penn State-led research team found that rivers are experiencing heatwaves at higher frequency and intensity than air heatwaves, which could have serious implications for aquatic life — and the lives of humans. 

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Credit: Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As the frequency and intensity of heatwaves increase across the U.S., a similar but more striking phenomenon is occurring in American rivers. Analysis of data from nearly 1,500 sites in the contiguous United States between 1980 and 2022 revealed that heatwaves in rivers are accelerating faster than and lasting nearly twice as long air heatwaves, according to a new study by researchers at Penn State.  

“Rivers are often thought of as safe and cool havens protected from extreme temperatures,” said Li Li, corresponding author and Barry and Shirley Isett Professor of Environmental Engineering in Penn State’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “Our study shows, for the first time, that rivers are experiencing a more rapid increase in frequency, duration and intensity of heatwaves than air, and are increasing at about two to four times the rate of air heatwaves.” 

The research, published in the journal PNAS, found that periods of abnormally high riverine water temperatures are a threat to aquatic ecosystems, water quality and America's food supply and energy stability. 

“Our findings show that riverine heatwaves are increasing faster than air heatwaves, a trend likely happening worldwide,” said Kayalvizhi Sadayappan, lead author and postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State. “This raises the risk of rivers experiencing both extreme heat and low water flows at the same time, which can cause conditions that can lower oxygen levels, stress aquatic life and even trigger large-scale fish die-offs.” 

Rising river temperatures can put pressure on several aquatic species, many of which are cold-blooded, especially cold-water fish such as salmon and trout, Sadayappan said. The study found that since 1980, rivers across the contiguous United States have experienced an average increase of 11.6 days per year when water temperatures rose above 15 degrees Celsius (C), or 59 degrees Fahrenheit (F) — a temperature threshold that can stress many species. These warm-water days have climbed the fastest in the Northeast, the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian region, with significant increases observed at 82% of the sites studied. 

The researchers also tracked more extreme conditions, defined as days when river temperatures exceeded 20 C, or 68 F. They found that critical thermal stress days are rising most quickly in the Southern and Appalachian regions, with significant increases recorded at 74% of sites. 

By contrast, rivers in the Midwest showed the slowest rise in both categories, adding only about five extra days per year above 15 C and less than one day per year above 20 C. 

In addition to harming water quality and threatening aquatic life, riverine heatwaves impact livelihoods and cultural traditions that revolve around these ecosystems, especially for Indigenous communities, Sadayappan said. They also raise drinking water treatment costs, limit recreation and farming, and disrupt energy production by causing shutdowns and wasting energy. 

According to Li, air heatwaves generally receive more attention because they directly impact humans, while riverine heatwaves often go unnoticed unless they cause consequences that are more visible, such as a massive fish die-offs. 

While heatwaves in lakes, oceans and large rivers are well-documented through satellite data, approximately three out of four rivers globally escape satellite observation, she explained. In addition, data from decades of stream sensor measurements are fragmented and inconsistent. To address this gap, the researchers developed a model where computers learn patterns and make predictions from large amounts of data to reconstruct consistent and continuous daily water temperatures. 

“Deep learning enabled us to identify riverine heatwave events and quantify their characteristics and trends over four decades,” Sadayappan said. “Without the deep learning approach and the reconstructed data, we wouldn’t have recognized that riverine heatwave events have been increasing more rapidly than air heatwaves.” 

This work highlights the urgent need to monitor and mitigate the accelerating rise of riverine heatwaves, Sadayappan said. 

The study suggested that climate change is the primary force behind increasing trends of riverine heatwaves, as rising air temperatures strongly influence river conditions. Precipitation patterns, especially winter snow, also play a key role. In mountain regions like the Rockies, shrinking snowpacks mean less cool meltwater to buffer rivers, leaving them more vulnerable to heatwaves. 

Human activities, such as dams and agriculture, play a secondary role in shaping how and where rivers are most vulnerable to these impacts, Sadayappan added. 

“Agriculture has been mitigating riverine heatwaves via cooler air and water during irrigation, as indicated by declining trends in the frequency, duration and intensity of riverine heatwaves in crop-cultivated areas,” she said. “On the other hand, dams have been accelerating trends in riverine heatwaves. In particular, large dams have been contributing towards elongating riverine heatwaves.” 

Sadayappan said that rivers in landscapes with more human activity, such as cities, generally experience more frequent, longer and more intense riverine heatwaves, but rivers in undeveloped landscapes are rapidly catching up. 

“This information can provide warning signals and support adaptive management during riverine heatwaves,” Sadayappan said. “More importantly, it can inform long-term mitigation efforts to restore vegetation along riverbanks to provide shade, improve dam management, expand green infrastructure and reduce water diverted from rivers.” 

The team said they hope their work could lead to policies and incentives that are essential to protect vulnerable river ecosystems against heatwaves and the people who depend on them. 

This study was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, Penn State’s Institute of Energy and the Environment and the Barry and Shirley Isett Professorship at Penn State. 

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Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2503160122 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Riverine heat waves on the rise, outpacing air heat waves

Article Publication Date

22-Sep-2025

 

Dried fish – the hidden superfood vital for millions of women and children in Africa

Hidden in plain sight, dried fish are an overlooked yet vital nutrient-packed superfood helping to feed millions of people across Africa, a new study reveals.

Lancaster University

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Smoked sardinella in Accra, Ghana

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Credit: Dr James Robinson

 

Hidden in plain sight, dried fish are an overlooked yet vital nutrient-packed superfood helping to feed millions of people across Africa, a new study reveals.

And new evidence quantifies for the first time the essential nutrients in sun-dried and smoked fish in Africa, suggesting they could play an important role in tackling malnutrition across the tropics – provided the right policies are in place, researchers argue.

Dried fish are an affordable and readily available food across the tropics. Yet despite this prevalence, because they are often produced by small-scale fisheries, and are usually traded informally, little was known about how widespread this food is produced, consumed or even how nutritious it is. Until now.

In the first large-scale investigation of dried fish consumption, an international team of researchers led by academics at Lancaster University, provides evidence that dried fish contributes significantly to the recommended nutrient intakes for young children and women - underlining their importance for global food security and nutrition.

Using modelling based on data from the multinational Living Standards Measurements Study conducted in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda, the scientists behind the findings estimate that dried fish are eaten weekly by a third of households in these countries, and are even consumed by 54% more people than fresh fish.

Dried fish are particularly important to the diets of those in poor households and near to marine coastlines or urban centres. This, researchers say, reinforces the importance of protecting fish catches for local consumption, rather than for international markets.

But the question remained - just how nutritious are dried fish?

The researchers examined the nutrient content of some of the most readily available dried fish in East and West Africa, as well as the Indian Ocean, to determine their importance in providing nourishment.

They analysed 19 species of fish, including freshwater fish from the Great Lakes (such as the Lake Victoria sardine) and marine species from West Africa (including the Madeiran sardinella) and the Indian Ocean (such as rabbitfish).

Analysis of sun-dried and smoked fish revealed that dried fish are packed with nutrients: even small amounts of dried fish contribute significantly to recommended nutrient intakes for young children and women.

Processing of fish by sun-drying and smoking concentrates essential nutrients into smaller, shelf-stable portions, such that all dried fish forms were found to have a higher nutrient density than fresh fish, for equivalent portion sizes, especially for key minerals for public health such as iron and zinc.

The study reveals that small portions of dried fish contribute more than 15% of recommended intakes for multiple essential dietary nutrients including calcium, iodine, iron, selenium, zinc, vitamins B12 and D.

Nutrients are not equal for all fish. Powdered and smoked marine species, for example, have high iron and omega-3 fatty acid concentrations, whereas freshwater species from Lake Victoria have relatively higher calcium and zinc concentrations.

Dr James Robinson, Leverhulme Research Fellow at Lancaster University’s Lancaster Environment Centre, said: “Until now, the role and scale of dried fish in supporting food security and nutrition has often been undervalued and hidden, limiting our understanding of how dried fish contribute to healthy diets.

“Fish caught in oceans, lakes and rivers across Africa and Asia are dried, smoked or fried, providing large supplies of affordable and nutritious foods that can be stored for long periods of time and easily transported.

“The widespread prevalence of highly-nutritious dried fish show these foods play critical roles in food security and nutrition, particularly for vulnerable populations like women and children, households close to fisheries, and even in places distant from fisheries.”

Following these new insights, the researchers say their findings suggest dried fish could be used to prevent micronutrient deficiencies in women and young children in Africa.

Dried fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, iodine and selenium could be powdered and mixed with other food products to produce highly nutritious meals for infants that can be used to treat and prevent malnutrition, the researchers add.

Dr Rucha Karkarey, of Lancaster University and co-author, said: “Dried fish can fill nutrient gaps in seasonal seas, such as reef fish in Lakshadweep Islands that are caught and dried before the southwest monsoon. But here and across the tropics, policies are needed to protect supply for coastal communities against competing international markets.”

Marian Kjellevold, research professor at the Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, said: “High-quality analytical data on small processed fish is presently lacking in most African food composition tables, which limits our ability to fully understand and utilize their nutritional potential. This paper is an important step towards filling that gap, generating robust data that is essential for developing knowledge-based dietary guidelines and ensuring these nutrient-rich foods are used to improve public health.”

Dr Shakuntala Thilsted, Senior Nutrition Expert, CGIAR said “Many countries look towards biofortification of staple crops as a means of boosting micronutrient intakes. The results presented in this paper show that these nutrients are concentrated in dried small fish. Therefore, we must ensure that dried fish are included in food-based dietary guidelines. We must also use dried fish products in complementary feeding of young children, treatment of malnourished children, school feeding and food assistance programmes.”

The findings of the study, which was supported by the Royal Society and the European Research Council, are outlined in the paper ‘Dried fish provide widespread access to critical nutrients across Africa’, published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America (PNAS).

Researchers on the study include: James Robinson, Antonio Allegretti, Rucha Karkarey, Tim Lamont, Sarah Martin, Sophie Standen, Nicholas Graham and Christina Hicks of Lancaster University; Eva Maire of Lancaster University and the University of Montpellier; Johnstone Omukoto, Christopher Aura, and Naftaly Mwirigi of Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute; Richard Ansong of the University of Ghana, Kendra Byrd of the University of Greenwich; Kathryn Fiorella and Lydia O’Meara of Cornell University; Marian Kjellevold of the Institute of Marine Research, Bergen; Jessica Gephart of the University of Washington, and Shakuntala Thilsted of CGIAR.

Sun-dried anchovy in Mombasa, Kenya

Credit

Dr James Robinson

Sun-dried anchovy in Mombasa, Kenya

Credit

Dr James Robinson

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2426844122 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Dried fish – the hidden superfood vital for millions of women and children in Africa

Article Publication Date

22-Sep-2025