You Ask, I Answer: Wild Salmon

If I don't eat canned salmon (which I know is usually wild and not farmed), are there any ways to help me determine if the fresh salmon I am eating is farm-raised or not?

-- Elizabeth Isaacson
Portland, OR

Although some supermarkets label their fish accordingly ("farmed" or "wild-caught"), those descriptions are not always accurate.

There are, however, certain clues you can keep in mind.

Anytime you see the term "Atlantic salmon", you are dealing with farm-raised fish. Anyone who tries to sell you Atlantic salmon as "wild-caught" is most likely lying through their teeth.

On the flip side, "Pacific salmon" encompasses a variety of species (including chinook/king, chum, coho, sockeye, and pink) that are wild-caught.

Texture can sometimes be a giveaway, too. Wild-caught salmon tends to have a thicker, meatier mouthfeel.

I don't consider price to be much of an indicator.

Although you will never see wild-caught salmon at $5 a pound, some dishonest stores will sell farm-raised salmon at $14 a pound in an attempt to make consumers think they are paying for something wild-caught.

On another disturbing note, the numbers of wild salmon are drastically reducing with each passing year. Please visit "Save Our (Wild) Salmon" for more information.

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You Ask, I Answer: Dyes/Farmed Salmon

Are the synthetic dyes [fed to farmed salmon] harmful?



I googled astaxanthin and found a website talking about how it's an antioxidant and prevents cancer and is necessary for the healthy growth of the farmed salmon.



Surely that can't be true.



-- Kristin

Via the blog



That is technically true, but there is more to this story.



While both astaxanthin and canthaxanthin are deemed safe by the Food & Drug Administration (although people trust that organization to varying degrees), certain concentrations of canthaxanthin have been associated with eye defects.



Interestingly, different countries have different ideas of how many parts per million of that synthetic dye are "safe."



That being said, the vast majority of salmon farmed in the United States and Europe is only fed astaxanthin.



In other parts of the world, though, farmed salmon is only fed canthaxanthin (it is the cheaper of the two dyes.)



I still would not be too worried. You would need to be eating a LOT of salmon dyed with canthaxanthin to be affected.



What all of this ties into, though, is another controversial topic – COOL (Country of Origin Labeling.)



Although it is required for all fish sold in the United States, I have seen it very sparingly in supermarkets.



As far as I am concerned, the core issue surrounding these food dyes isn't so much possible health repercussions, but rather truthful advertising to consumers.



If farmed salmon were to either remain gray or be dyed another color (say, white), then consumers would immediately know they are not purchasing a wild variety, and there would be no room for mislabeling (remember this infamous study by Marian Burros of The New York Times?).



Since farmed salmon is nutritionally inferior to its wild counterpart (more saturated fat, higher Omega 6 fatty acid content, lower Omega 3 fatty acid content), people should not be left in the dark.



This is not to say farmed salmon should completed avoided or viewed in the same light as deep fried fish nuggets, but consumers have a right to know exactly what they are putting on their plates.

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You Ask, I Answer: Food Dyes

I was trying to think of things that are artificially dyed red and salmon came to mind.

Farmed salmon would be gray without the dye they are fed because they don't eat their natural ocean diet of krill.

I know some other meats are dyed red to make them look more appetizing to people.

What are these dyes made of?

-- Kristin
Via the blog

For the most part, farmed salmon are simply fed synthetic versions of two pigments of the carotenoid family -- astaxanthin and canthaxanthin.

Wild salmon take in the naturally occuring versions of these carotenoids by virtue of their aquatic diet.

Farmed salmon -- subsisting mainly on grains and corn -- need these dyes added to their feed so they can have a pleasing rosy color.

This is mostly done for aesthetic purposes.

Would you be interested in taking home a filet of salmon that was completely gray? No, you wouldn't. And salmon farming companies know this very well.

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