|
|
|
|
First, farmed salmon usually has dye added to it to improve the looks of the product. Even with the coloring, the product doesn't look as good as Wild Salmon. Furthermore, these colorings come with recently documented cancer causing agents. These dyes have zero health benefits, and have no other purpose than to fool you, the consumer, into thinking the product is rich in flavor ... Don't believe the hype! Also, one of the true health benefits of salmon is not as concentrated in farmed salmon. That benefit is called Omega 3 oil. These oils have been scientifically proved to have the highest concentrations in Wild Alaskan King Salmon, and is also prominent is Wild Sockeye & Coho. The Alaskan salmon runs are fish that live as nature intended them to live, in cold, deep water, returning every year to the pristine rivers in Alaska's remote wilderness to spawn. PCBs in farmed salmon (information obtained from the (EWG - "Environmental Working Group"). See the latest legal challenges to Farmed Salmon Disclosure.Seven of ten farmed salmon purchased at grocery stores in Washington DC, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon were contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at levels that raise health concerns, according to independent laboratory tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group. These first-ever tests of farmed salmon from U.S. grocery stores show that farmed salmon are likely the most PCB-contaminated protein source in the U.S. food supply. On average farmed salmon have 16 times the dioxin-like PCBs found in wild salmon, 4 times the levels in beef, and 3.4 times the dioxin-like PCBs found in other seafood. The levels found in these tests track previous studies of farmed salmon contamination by scientists from Canada, Ireland, and the U.K. In total, these studies support the conclusion that American consumers nationwide are exposed to elevated PCB levels by eating farmed salmon.
PCBs are persistent, cancer-causing chemicals that were banned in the United States in 1976 and are among the “dirty dozen” toxic chemicals slated for global phase-out under the United Nations Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, signed by President Bush on May 23, 2001. Because of their persistence, PCBs continue to contaminate the environment and the food supply. A number of studies show that farmed salmon accumulate PCBs from the fishmeal they are fed. The feed is often designed to have high amounts of fish oil and is made largely from ground-up small fish. PCBs concentrate in oils and fat, and previous tests of salmon feed have consistently found PCB contamination. If farmed salmon with the average PCB level found in this study were caught in the wild, EPA advice would restrict consumption to no more than one meal a month. But because farmed salmon are bought, not caught, their consumption is not restricted in any way. This is because the EPA sets health guidance levels for PCBs in wild-caught salmon, and its standards, which were updated in 1999 to reflect the most recent peer-reviewed science, are 500 times more protective than the PCB limits applied by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to commercially-sold fish. The FDA has not updated its PCB health limit for commercial seafood since it was originally issued in 1984. In the intervening two decades new scientific research has shown that the PCBs that build up in fish and people are more potent cancer-causing agents than originally believed, and that they present other health risks as well, in particular neurodevelopmental risks to unborn children from maternal consumption of PCB-contaminated fish. When the FDA’s standard was developed, salmon was something of a rarity in the U.S. diet. Today it is standard fare at home and in restaurants, particularly among consumers who are health-conscious, well educated, and relatively affluent. Last year salmon overtook “fish sticks” as the third most popular seafood in the American diet (trailing only tuna and shrimp). The increased consumption was made possible by the explosive growth in salmon farming, an industrial system that produces the fish in vast quantities at a price far lower than wild salmon. Seven of the farmed salmon we tested came from factory-scale farms in Canada, the U.S., and Iceland. Six of these seven were polluted with PCBs at levels that would be safe to eat no more than once a month, according to EPA health standards. About 23 million Americans eat salmon more than once a month, the majority of it farmed salmon. One salmon imported from Scotland contained PCBs at levels so high that EPA would restrict consumption to no more than six meals a year, if the salmon were caught, not bought. The farmed salmon industry claims that both farmed and wild salmon can be eaten safely more than once a week. This claim relies on FDA’s outdated contamination limit. In EWG’s testing program, nine of 10 farmed salmon tested from five countries of origin failed EPA’s health-based limits for weekly consumption (6000 parts per trillion), exceeding the standard by an average of 4.5 times. A pilot study published by Canadian scientists last year showed that farmed Canadian salmon contain ten times the PCBs of wild Alaskan and Canadian salmon. EWG’s analysis of seafood industry fish consumption data shows that one quarter of all adult Americans (52 million people) eat salmon, and about 23 million of them eat salmon more often than once a month. Based on these data we estimate that 800,000 people face an excess lifetime cancer risk of more than one in 10,000 from eating farmed salmon, and 10.4 million people face a cancer risk exceeding one in 100,000. The government's preferred level of increased risk from contaminants like PCBs is no more than one in one million, a threshold set to account for a regulatory system that addresses chemicals or chemical classes individually and is unable to set safe levels for the complex mixtures of hundreds of industrial chemicals to which people are exposed. Recommendations Six of every ten salmon sold in stores and restaurants are raised in high-density fish pens in the ocean, managed and marketed by the salmon farming industry. These fish are eaten by a quarter of all adults in the U.S. and experts predict that the exponential growth of the farmed salmon industry will continue. Farm-raised fish are here to stay. If raised correctly, these fish can help meet global demand for high-quality protein and take some of the pressure off of highly depleted populations of wild fish. But major reforms to the industry are needed. In addition to the well documented ecological problems with salmon farming, there is now compelling evidence of near industry-wide contamination with unacceptably high levels of PCBs. To remedy this problem, we recommend that:
What you can do To reduce your exposure to PCBs, trim fat from fish before cooking. Also, choose broiling, baking, or grilling over frying, as these cooking methods allow the PCB-laden fat to cook off the fish. When possible, choose wild and canned Alaskan salmon instead of farmed, and eat farmed salmon no more than once a month. Wild versus farmedStandard fish farming practices, which include the use of contaminated fishmeal and the intentional fattening of farmed stock, create a cascade of problems that ultimately drive down the nutrient content of farmed salmon, and drive up the contamination levels relative to wild-caught salmon. Farmed salmon are fed contaminated fishmeal. Farmed salmon are fed from a global supply of fishmeal and fish oil manufactured from small open sea fish, which studies show are the source of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in most farmed salmon. In three independent studies scientists tested 37 fishmeal samples from six countries, and found PCB contamination in nearly every sample (Jacobs 2002, Easton 2002, and CFIA 1999). After testing fishmeal and fish oil, a team of U.K. scientists noted that “While diets based on marine fish oils are currently favored by the aquaculture industry, it is likely that these oils are contributing greatly to the contamination of farmed salmon by [persistent organic pollutants]” (Jacobs 2002b). PCBs build up in salmon at 20 to 30 times the levels in their environment and their feed (Jackson et. al 2001), so even low concentrations of PCBs in fishmeal can become a concern for human health. An expert food safety panel recently convened by the National Academy of Sciences noted that because of the “intensive management approach” of the aquaculture industry, PCBs in fishmeal can accumulate in fish tissues. The panel recommended that the government restrict the use of feed obtained from areas known to have high pollution levels (NAS 2003). Wild Alaskan salmon eat Pacific Ocean fish that the Academy scientists note are naturally lower in persistent pollutants. Farmed salmon are intentionally fattened and can therefore accumulate more PCBs. The salmon farming industry intentionally fattens its fish to maximize market weight (Jacobs 2002), a process similar to fattening cows or hogs in a feed lot. As a result, an ounce of farmed salmon contains 52 percent more fat than an ounce of wild salmon, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA 2002). PCBs collect in fat, as opposed to muscle or other organs. Farmed salmon, because they are intentionally fattened, are efficient collectors of PCBs. Leaner, wild Alaskan salmon are less likely to accumulate high levels of PCBs. Farmed salmon contains five to 10 times the PCBs of wild salmon. EWG’s tests confirm findings from three prior, independent studies in which scientists observed differences in contaminant levels between farmed and wild salmon. The average level of total PCBs in EWG's ten farmed salmon samples was 27.3 ppb, or 5.2 times higher than the average PCB level of 5.3 ppb in four wild salmon tested by Canadian scientists (Easton et al. 2002). Differences in the 12 dioxin-like PCBs appear to be even greater. In Ireland, Scotland, British Columbia, and Alaska studies show higher concentrations of dioxin-like PCBs in farmed salmon than in wild salmon (Easton et al. 2002, FSIA 2002a and 2002b, Axys 2003, and Jacob et al. 2002). In most of these cases, wild salmon were harvested from environments relatively free of industrial pollution. Farmed fish raised in these same environments ate fishmeal with higher levels of PCBs than the native fish consumed by wild salmon (Figure).
Farmed salmon contains higher levels of many other persistent pollutants. An influential study published last year showed that PCBs are just one family in a complex mixture of persistent pollutants that appear to concentrate in farmed salmon. The Canadian scientists found that farmed salmon tissue contained significantly higher levels of 151 out of the 158 chemical contaminants that were detected in both farmed and wild salmon samples (Easton et al. 2002). In addition to 110 different PCBs, these chemicals included brominated flame retardants, organochlorine pesticides like DDT and dieldrin, and carcinogenic combustion byproducts called polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). While PCBs may dominate human health risks from farmed salmon, many other contaminants contribute to the overall health concerns associated with these fish. Farmed salmon may contain two to 40 times more PCBs than any other major protein source. An analysis of data from studies on dioxin-like PCBs in commercial seafood, beef, pork, milk, and poultry shows that farmed salmon may be more contaminated than any other protein source in the U.S. (NAS 2003, EPA 2002, Fiedler et al 2000). On average, farmed salmon from EWG’s supermarket study contained 40 times more PCBs than milk, 4 times the PCB levels of beef, and at least 3.4 times the PCB levels of other commercial seafood. In their recent review of human exposures to dioxins and certain PCBs, an expert panel of the National Academy of Sciences noted that “it is in the public’s best interest for the government to develop a strategic action plan that includes interim steps to reduce exposures as long as the steps do not lead to undesirable consequences to human health,” and further recommended that the government focus on reducing exposures for girls and young women in the years well before pregnancy, since some PCBs are linked to brain damage and immune deficiencies for exposures in utero and in early childhood (NAS 2003). Although the Academy specifically recommends drinking skim instead of whole milk, even greater reductions of PCB exposures would be realized if women who eat farmed salmon ate wild salmon instead. The fat in farmed salmon contains less healthy omega-3 fatty acids than the fat in wild salmon. Salmon fat is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, essential nutrients important to fetal brain development and linked to reductions in the occurrence or symptoms of autoimmune disease, headaches, cramps, arthritis, other inflammatory diseases, hardening of the arteries, Alzheimer's disease, and heart attacks. But USDA testing data show that the fat of farmed salmon contains an average of 35 percent less omega-3 fatty acids (USDA 2002).
Steroids are another issue for concern in farmed salmon, as this affect the health benefits & ultimately results in an inferior product, which is discussed below. As far as taste is concerned, there is no comparison. Wild salmon has a much better texture, and the meat does not get the "fishy" smell and taste that farmed salmon is known to have. The farmed products can be compared to chickens, in that the meat is not as well developed, and the fact that the animals are kept confined, in an unnatural state, reflects in the taste at your dinner table or backyard BBQ. Beyond the obvious health issues, if you are a salmon lover, Wild Alaskan Salmon will give you a taste that can't be beat! Wild-King-Salmon.Com sells only the finest, hand selected Salmon available on the market. Even in the winter, when the runs have closed, the high tech flash frozen product you receive from us will be guaranteed to be he best salmon you have ever tasted. You may ask "How can that be?" ... well it all has to do with the way the product is processed and handled. At the end of the season, our product id hand fillets into 1 lb. portions, and vacuum sealed inside heavy, clear freezer bags (we want you to sea our product ... nothing to hide here!). It is then Flash frozen and kept in our high tech frost free freezers in Alaska, where it stays frozen until we send it to you, the consumer. Most state side salmon travels a torturous supply chain, where the product thaws, re-freezes, thaws, re-freezes through distributors and finally to the stores where you would purchase it. Buying direct from Alaska should be every connoisseurs choice. To give our product a try, see our specials page, where we have a variety of Wild Salmon Packs that we will ship overnight from the Wild Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, straight to your door. The best pat, besides the superior health benefits and untouchable taste .... shipping is free! If you don't see a pack you like, feel free to browse the rest of our site and pick out anything you like, and use the following coupon to receive 10% off your purchase. Simply put the following code into the "coupon box" at checkout, and hit recalculate: 98005 |
Alaskan
Wild Salmon Vs. Farmed Salmon
... Health & Taste Issues
