I personally wouldn't eat shrimp, especially shrimp from areas that are known to be polluted. Shrimp (and all shellfish) are scavengers and carry many toxins and parasites in their flesh. If an area is contaminated with environmental waste, you better bet the shrimp are too.
Is Shrimp Safe?
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I live in Houston - right on the Gulf Coast and the Houston Ship Channel - and as most of you probably know a very polluted area.
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So, if I get fresh shrimp it's out of these waters. SO, should I avoid fresh shrimp? Is frozen shrimp or seafood safe?
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My ds is just eating as much meat as I'll give him and so I'd like to expand his diet beyond chicken. I love seafood, but am concerned about how safe it is.
My ds is just eating as much meat as I'll give him and so I'd like to expand his diet beyond chicken. I love seafood, but am concerned about how safe it is.
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pssst... I don't know how biased it is but I read for every pound of shrimp caught 4 lbs of other sea life are uselessly killed- including the giant sea turtles. ok- back to your topic at hand
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I have no idea if it is safe- but I'm always very cautious of meat products when buying for my meat eating DH
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I personally would buy frozen shrimp. For some reason i feel ebtter with frozen- it gets from being caught to the freezer and is transporter, and divided and packaged while frozen. That just seems more sanitary to me personally.
I have no idea if it is safe- but I'm always very cautious of meat products when buying for my meat eating DH
gardenmom, you beat me to it! I was just about to link to that site.
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If you're hankering for shrimp, then spot prawns are the best eco-friendly pick. They are caught in traps instead of trawlers so you don't have the by-catch problem.
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/...e.cfm?fish=118
If you're hankering for shrimp, then spot prawns are the best eco-friendly pick. They are caught in traps instead of trawlers so you don't have the by-catch problem.
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/...e.cfm?fish=118
I have to add that we DO eat seafood and we are not about to stop--in fact I wish we ate more. We do our best to avoid items that are considered environmentally unfriendly from both the 'compromised fishery' standpoint like chilean sea bass and from the 'toxic TO the environment' category like farmed/gmo salmon.
My husband is an avid fisherman, and we primarily eat fresh fish and a few clams that he catches himself, from what we consider to be 'safe' waters (places I'd feel comfortable swimming), like bluefish, striped bass and fluke. Some of those may be risky due to the places that the fish spawn and spend part of their lives, but I still consider it safer than any piece of meat whose origin I know nothing about...
As with anything, you need to weigh the risks and benefits and decide what is best for you and your family
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My husband is an avid fisherman, and we primarily eat fresh fish and a few clams that he catches himself, from what we consider to be 'safe' waters (places I'd feel comfortable swimming), like bluefish, striped bass and fluke. Some of those may be risky due to the places that the fish spawn and spend part of their lives, but I still consider it safer than any piece of meat whose origin I know nothing about...
As with anything, you need to weigh the risks and benefits and decide what is best for you and your family
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Um, aren't prawns just bigger shrimp? That is what I always thought.
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Originally Posted by Rainbow seafood is my DH's fave and I far prefer the kids eating that to beef and pork. He just opts out of shrimp. He does eat prawns though- he even traps them himself when we go to Hawaii to visit. |
Um, aren't prawns just bigger shrimp? That is what I always thought.
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I read that somewhere too, and I'm thinking it was in the book A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.
I saw a bit on CNN last year about farmers growing shrimp in the midwest on their farms, and making better money on that than on their other crops. I thought maybe buying farmed shrimp would be a good way to support local farmers, but then I was reading an article on farmed shrimp in Sunset, and it suggested it should be avoided. I'm wondering if that is a pollution related issue as well, but Sunset didn't go into depth on the subject. It was just an article on which type of farmed fish to avoid and why.
Originally Posted by Rainbow pssst... I don't know how biased it is but I read for every pound of shrimp caught 4 lbs of other sea life are uselessly killed- including the giant sea turtles. ok- back to your topic at hand
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I read that somewhere too, and I'm thinking it was in the book A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.
I saw a bit on CNN last year about farmers growing shrimp in the midwest on their farms, and making better money on that than on their other crops. I thought maybe buying farmed shrimp would be a good way to support local farmers, but then I was reading an article on farmed shrimp in Sunset, and it suggested it should be avoided. I'm wondering if that is a pollution related issue as well, but Sunset didn't go into depth on the subject. It was just an article on which type of farmed fish to avoid and why.
Farmed fish is really no safer. Recently Wild Oats discontinued farmed tilapia because it was loaded with growth stimulants
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As far as shrimp goes my husband loves to go shrimping- when they run down here in the Keys in the winter.
But commercially- no way. Those shrimp boats (down here) are out there a looooooong time....friends that shrimp on those excursions tell of throwing bleach on the shrimp to keep them from rotting...and many of the frozen ones have dye to keep that pink look.
As far as shrimp goes my husband loves to go shrimping- when they run down here in the Keys in the winter.
But commercially- no way. Those shrimp boats (down here) are out there a looooooong time....friends that shrimp on those excursions tell of throwing bleach on the shrimp to keep them from rotting...and many of the frozen ones have dye to keep that pink look.
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