Atlantic farmed salmon = grey flesh + pink dye + antibiotics
October 16, 2007
Posted by CindyW in : Fresh Look , 23 comments
Last week I had dinner with a friend who was 6 months pregnant. Like a good expecting mother, she duly added fish to her diet to help fetal and neonatal development. She picked grilled salmon from the dinner menu. The detailed description of the entrée indicated it was Atlantic salmon. Having heard some nasty stuff about Atlantic salmon which were primarily farm-raised, I dissuaded her from ordering the entrée and promised to find more facts rather than relying on my not-so-reliable memory. So here it goes:
Wild salmon versus farmed salmon
Wild salmon live in salt water and spawn in freshwater. They forage in the open ocean for small crustaceans, herring, and other small fish. Once they start the upstream journey in freshwater to spawn, they stop feeding and rely on their stored energy. The longer and more difficult the journey is, the more energy is needed. The energy in the form of fat and oil, including omega-3 fatty acids, is what make salmon succulent and scrumptious.
Natural carotene pigment in Microalgae -> ingested by krill -> eaten by salmon -> naturally pink flesh
Farmed salmon, on the other hand, swim around in enclosed pens with thousands of other salmon. They are fed formulated pellets, other fish, or sometimes even corn. Naturally their flesh is gray. To make it more attractive, pigments are added to the feed to give them pink-colored meat. Want light pink, dark pink or something in between? How about light steel blue color? It matches with my dining room…
Grey flesh -> added pink dye of your choice -> designer pink flesh
Pacific salmon versus Atlantic salmon
These days, wild salmon come mostly from the Pacific (with a majority from Alaska). You may have heard some of the five species: coho, sockeye, king (sometimes also called Chinook), pink, and chum. Pacific Salmon season generally runs from May to September, depending on the specific species.
Once upon a time there were wild Atlantic salmon. Unfortunately most of their spawning habitat has been destroyed by pollution, logging, damming, and other impediments. There are still very limited wild Atlantic salmon left. However majority of the commercially available Atlantic salmon are farmed, and yes fed the pink dye.
Other reasons farmed Atlantic salmon are not rosy as their ingested dyes
- Wild salmon just taste better. Try it for yourself if you don’t believe me. I’ve had both, and the differences in taste and aroma are obvious even to a non-foodie like me.
- Farmed salmon are raised in the marine equivalent of factory farms. The concentrated waste from the pens spoils the local marine environment and spreads disease, such as sea lice. Yuck!
- Much like factory farmed beef industry, farmed salmon are administered antibiotics.
- Farmed salmon have been found to contain significantly higher concentrations of PCBs, dioxin and other contaminants.
So, when you buy salmon or order at a restaurant, always ask where it is from, especially in the off season. I for one, will not spend money to eat pink dye, no matter what shade it is.
CindyW at Organicpicks
Related Post:
Eat sustainably from the ocean
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