News Coverage
Farmed Salmon and PCBs
Published July 29, 2003
Salmon is one of the most popular items on American menus, but now a new study is raising questions about salmon safety.
Just when you thought you had found a diet item that was not only tasty but healthy for you too, along comes another study. This latest one looks at the safety of farmed salmon, not the kind caught in the wild. It says they may have high levels of toxic chemicals. When it comes to healthy foods salmon is hard to beat. It's full of omega-3 fatty acids that can help reduce your risk of heart disease.
In recent years salmon has become the third most popular fish in America, behind shrimp and tuna.
But now a report from the Environmental Working Group says farmed salmon may contain high levels of PCBs.
Those are cancer-causing chemicals that were banned in the U.S. in the 1970's but which are still found in the environment.
The study tested small amounts of farmed salmon sold in stores and found that on average it had 16 times the level of PCBs found in wild salmon, 4 times the level found in beef, and more than 3 times the levels found in other seafood.
The report says if wild salmon had PCB levels that high the FDA would issue a warning advising people not to eat them more than once a month.
However, because farmed salmon is bought, not caught, the regulations governing them are different.
Farmed salmon are raised in large pens and fed a diet of crushed fish and oil. The researchers say that may contribute to the high levels of PCBs.
However the salmon industry of America says the study is flawed, that their fish are safe and levels of PCBs are well within FDA guidelines.
So what can consumers do? Well, you can always ask for wild rather than farmed salmon, either at the grocery store or in a restaurant.
It's better for you than farmed salmon anyway, because it contains much higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids. That way you get all the health benefits without any of the potential risks.