Toxins in Farm-Raised Salmon Pose Health Risk

[Wonk]

THURSDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDayNews) -- Chemical contaminants in farm-raised salmon are at unacceptably high levels and may dramatically increase the risk of cancer, a new report claims.

The key contaminant, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), has been banned in the United States since the late 1970s. It is among the "dirty dozen" chemical contaminants to be eliminated under the United Nations treaty on persistent organic pollutants. PCBs have been linked to cancer and impaired fetal brain development.

"Levels of 14 different chemical contaminates pesticides are higher in farmed salmon than in wild salmon," says co-researcher Dr. David O. Carpenter, a professor of environmental health and toxicology and director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the State University of New York at Albany.

In the current study, the largest to date, Carpenter's team tested more than 2 metric tons of farmed and wild salmon from around the world.

They found farm-raised salmon had significantly higher PCB levels and many chlorinated pesticides than wild Pacific salmon. The researchers report the finding in the Jan. 9 issue of Science. High PCB levels in farmed salmon result from the fish meal and fish oil they are fed.

more...
http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared-auto/healthnews/govt/516856.html
http://news.google.com/news?q=salmon

sigh....

[twilight]

1. they call it "Troll" around here

and it tastes like crap. I tried it once and it was very expensive. It LOOKS like it would be good, but the taste doesn't come anywhere close to the wild salmon that is caught out at sea.

That is the only salmon I'll eat.

So, my advice is to not buy or eat the farm raised JUNK and it is appropriately called "Troll" for some reason - ? :wtf:

Is this Mad Cow hell or what? What is SAFE to eat anyway? :grr:



:dem: :kick:

[BiggJawn]

5. It *IS* pretty Horrid.

And they have to put DYE in with all the drugs and anti-biotics that they already feed it just to get it to market in order for it to be "pink", since the fishy-kibble they feed it has no Krill....

I tried it. I KNEW it was Atlantic farm fish because it was cheap. It smelled fishy, it tasted fishy, and and the "Salmon Steaks" i grilled were the boniest damn things....

I looked it up later and boy, I'll never eat it again!

[ConcernedCanuk]

2. Just saw official reports on Canuk (CBC) TV

.
.
. and it said NO danger, do NOT stop eating fish as a result of these reports.

Yes, they did admit that levels of certain chemicals are much higher than fish in the wild, but also said they are NOT issuing a warning that these levels are dangerous to our health.

But then again, we are supposed to be in "fear" mode now and believe every "scare" warning - -

Maybe I am misguided, but I trust OUR media alot more than Murikkkan Media

AND - the "title" of the article is "slanted" - seems to be the norm for Murikkkan Media

From the same Article:

However, Dr. Mike Gallo, a professor of toxicology and public health at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, disagrees. He says the study confirms the safety of farmed salmon based on FDA standards.

Gallo believes the EPA standards are unproved and only hypothetical models. He also notes that PCBs are found in pork, lamb and beef, foods that Americans eat more often then salmon.

Gallo also believes there is a strong bias against fish farming by groups concerned with the environment.

Farmed salmon is much cheaper than wild salmon, making it more available to consumers, Gallo says. "I don't think Americans should change their diet based on this paper," he adds.

/snip/

'nuff said !!

[burrowowl]

3. If you read

the article on the BBC site, you will see it is about Scottish salmon and it seems like a U$ attempt to prone their own farm grown salmon.

[Malva Zebrina]

4. I live on the coast of Maine

and in a fairly rural area until a few years ago. It is also a historic area. In the river that constitutes much of the harbor that has been used since the early seventeenth century for fishing, it was well known that the salmon would "run" up here into the lake to spawn. Alewives, as well, would also run up the river to spawn in the lake.


There has been nothing like those wonderful natural phenomena in at least twenty years. And for the salmon probably more.

There are NO more salmon, Atlantic salmon, running here and there are no more Alewives, but damn, we do have a lot of pleasure boats and lobster boats aroung heah! And we do see all sort of oil deposits on the rocks on the rocky coast of Maine heah!

No more--no more natural food heah. In a neighboring town, though, a few people did get together to try to help the Alewives in their natural, yearly spawning run--and they did get the commericial harvesting of these very vulnerable migrating fish to stop it's harvesting. As a result, the Alewives do indeed "run" again up to the lake to spawn-by the millions-it is a fantastic sight to see--millions and millions of silvery fish filling up the basin--and the Osprey fly continually overhead and have a feast on any of those vulnerable they can bomb dive and spear for a tasty lunch-it is indeed an incredible phenomena to watch and usually occurs in mid March.

The organisation built ladders to aid the fish who would otherwise have to traverse a very large waterfall and it is quite wild and wooly.

But where I live, there are no more
Salmon running and there are no more Alewives as has been reported in the ancient historical documents.

Elvers and eels do survive though. A few years back, there was a run on the elvers (baby eels) which are a delicacy in Asian countries., Fisherman were getting an enormous price for a bucket of elvers. So they stormed this area and laid down so many elver nets that one could not have a chance to net any from the shore, which is the restriction on those who cannot afford the "fyke" nets. (those nets that trap the baby eels)

People came from as far away as the CArolinas in order to trap these elvers. I counted once, more that one hundred and fifty "fyke" nets in this small river.

Fortunately, the market collapsed--and the Asain market began growing it's own elvers--and there was not profit in the netting of these elvers.

But it does point out how people are desperate to make a killing on anything that will pay--no matter what happens to the environment.

I feel sad that this has to happen.

[dusty64]

8. Me too.

I am certain that when we succeed in killing the Oceans we will all die. What shortsighted and greedy creatures we are. :grr:

[schultzee]

6. I have been mainly a vegan since June and now I am glad I did it

[Nihil]

7. Pre-emptive strike on the salmon market?

The toxins mentioned *are* present but are well inside the WHO safety
limits. In addition, they are cumulative toxins - not a "one snack
kills you" type - which you pick up from a wide variety of sources.

The wonderful "advantage" of dioxins and PCBs is that they just get
everywhere (water, air, land) and accumulate in almost every type of
living organism. As a result, it will always be controversial to say
that their effects are due to this factor or that foodstuff.

If the study was genuinely aimed at health concerns (rather than the
financial ones of a particular market) it should be used to highlight
the growing pollution levels that are affecting everyone. As it is,
(or should I say, "as it has been reported") its focus seems to be on
persuading shoppers to buy wild Pacific salmon rather than any other
"brand". (Don't get me wrong, I like wild Pacific salmon but object
to marketing ploys being trumpeted as "interest in public health".)

I like salmon oven-cooked with ground black pepper and lemon juice.
I also love smoked salmon - hence my disregard for this "warning" ...
I expect I ingest more carcinogenic pollutants from the smoking
process than from the salmon itself!

On a purely selfish level, the silver lining for me is that the price
should be even better for a little while as all the gullible shoppers
are frightened off. Yum!

Nihil

[pinniped]

9. I don't buy farmed salmon and this is yet another reason to avoid it.

[whatelseisnew]

10. US in fresh blow to Scottish salmon farms

Stephen Khan, Scotland editor
Sunday January 11, 2004
The Observer

Salmon from Scottish fish farms was refused entry to the US after tests
showed the batches were unfit for human consumption, according to strict
Food and Drug Administration guidelines.

The US government agency condemned 27 imports of smoked salmon last
year amid concerns that they may have been contaminated with listeria.

The revelation comes as a further blow to an industry left reeling by a US
scientists' report which last week suggested eating more than three portions
of farmed Scottish salmon a year carried a cancer risk. Just last month
Scottish salmon farmers enjoyed record sales of more than a million salmon
a week during the build-up to Christmas.

...

The salmon industry has strongly defended its produce. Scottish Quality
Salmon - which represents most of the country's producers - accused the
researchers of being 'deliberately misleading'.

...