News Coverage
Could your salmon be contaminated?
Published October 14, 2003
Salmon, renowned as an excellent source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, has become a staple in U.S. diets, fueling an industry of aquaculture that provides more farmed fish than ever before. But a recent study, conducted by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG), discovered an alarming level of cancer-causing PCBs in almost all farmed salmon samples randomly purchased for testing from national grocery stores.
The EWG found that seven out of ten samples from international farms would carry restrictions for consumption if they had been caught recreationally. The PCB content of commercially sold salmon is regulated by FDA standards set in 1984, which allow for 500 times the amount of PCBs than do 1999 EPA standards for recreationally caught fish.
Banned in the United States in 1976, PCBs still occur in ocean waters and in the small fish that comprise aquaculture fish meal. Fish meal, used to fatten farmed fish, contains a higher concentration of the chemical compounds than is found in the native fish eaten by wild salmon. The July 2003 findings of the EWG concur with previous studies demonstrating that farmed salmon have five to ten times the amount of PCBs found in wild salmon-an indication, EWG scientists say, that the FDA needs to conduct further research into the PCB concentration of the farmed fish they regulate.
"A definitive study needs to be undertaken by the FDA," says EWG senior scientist Kristina Thayer, PhD. "We need to understand better the PCB levels in salmon as well as the pattern of food consumption. For example, what would be the potential risk to the person who eats farmed salmon twice a week?"
Because PCBs are stored in the fatty tissues of animals, the EWG recommends that you trim fat from fish before cooking, and always broil, bake, or grill the cut instead of frying it. In addition, choose wild Alaskan salmon over farmed varieties, and eat farmed salmon no more than once a month.