Opinions on Salmon...

767 Views 16 Replies 8 Participants Last post by BusyMommy, Oct 1, 2003

plein_soleil

Discussion Starter · Sep 29, 2003

I just learned that ALL the salmon that I can obtain locally is laced with artificial colouring to make it PINK! WHAT??? I could just scream. We avoid artificial colours and now I find we have been eating all along! Why must we keep mucking w/the food supply?!

Does anyone have any add'l info on this colouring? I am so depressed....

Anndria :-(

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

BusyMommy

· #2 · Sep 30, 2003

Yikes-that's horrid! I can't believe they'd do that. Well, I guess I can.

We eat lots of Reds and Kings, but they're all wild salmon that we've caught ourselves.

Sorry I can't help!
(I"m guessing maybe they're farmed salmon?)

--PS: Saw your other post about animal crackers but internet is SOOO slow. If you're looking for a recipe, do a search in this forum. Cathe posted a recipe from her book a couple weeks ago.

candiland

· #3 · Sep 30, 2003

Yeah, I've seen that, too. Also, farm raised salmon are loaded with antibiotics because they're so packed in swim pools they can get infected by all the waste they create. The waste is sometimes dumped into the ocean, I believe, creating a massive imbalance in local marine and aquatic life

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BusyMommy

· #4 · Sep 30, 2003

And, I believe farmed salmon has more of a problem w/mercury?

wawoof

· #5 · Sep 30, 2003

Farmed salmon have a lot of problems. My biggest health concern with them is the recent finding that they have high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs; see http://www.ewg.org/reports/farmedPCBs/es.php). Wild salmon don't have this problem. I'm not sure about the relative mercury levels in farmed vs wild-caught salmon. The best salmon environmentally speaking are wild pacific salmon. It's so sad that we have to question whether we can eat a normally healthy fish due to pollution!!

plein_soleil

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 30, 2003

Yes, we are in the east (PA), so it's all farmed. So far I haven't been able to find anyone close who has alaskan salmon. Yes, you are right about the pcb's too. I hadn't heard about the mercury, so I don't know.

As for the cookies, I tried Cathe's recipe but it wasn't sweet-- more like a cracker. I tried doctoring it up with fruit spread, but then I through off the liquid/dry balance... all in all, it didn't work! oh, well, back to the drawing board I guess.

Anndria

BusyMommy

· #7 · Sep 30, 2003

argh, I keep putting off walking out the door to ride my bike in the pouring rain...
Yes, we have Ak salmon. YEA Totally safe and yummy.
Sorry

Re: the cookies, I used applesauce instead of juice and that sweetened it some. I bet you could put in a little bit of sugar, too!

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plein_soleil

Discussion Starter · #8 · Sep 30, 2003

Thanks, the applesauce is a good idea. Did you use sweetened or unsweetened? Also, did you use WW flour?

Thanks again!
Anndria

BusyMommy

· #9 · Sep 30, 2003

let's see

i used unsweetened but sweetened would be an easy boost

i think i used half ww and half white

mama2annabelle

· #10 · Sep 30, 2003

We have been buying Wild alaskan salmon every month and we live in Florida. It's a little pricey, but totally worth it IMO. You can get free shipping if you order 8 lbs or more. It seems like a lot, but you can do what we did the first time--split it with another family. Now, though we buy the whole 8 lbs. ourselves. Here's the link: www.great-alaska-seafood.com

plein_soleil

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 30, 2003

mommy2annabelle & busymommy,

hey, thanks for the link! Which salmon do you get, or have you tried them all? Have you tried any other seafood/fish? Thanks.

busy - we only have unsweetened too, glad to know that will work. I will try 1/2 and 1/2 on the flour too, and if that works, maybe try ww pastry flour. Thanks!

Anndria

cathe

· #12 · Sep 30, 2003

I was rather surprised to find my animal crackers in a salmon thread. Anyway, you're right these are more of a cracker than a cookie - for a sweeter cookie, you might want to use apple juice concentrate instead of some of the apple juice. You could also reduce the juice to 1/3 cup and use 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey.

AS for farmed salmon - the labeling laws were changed to they now have to disclose that artificial colors are added - the farmed salmon is actually grey without them!

Farmed salmon is gross - you are really better off not eating it - they are packed into small areas where they end up eating their own poop and they are fed food that is not natural to them. They are very low in omega-3 fatty acids to which is the reason most people eat salmon.

Look for wild, alaskian, or pacific salmon. Atlantic salmon is always farmed.

BusyMommy

· #13 · Oct 1, 2003

Yeah, I'd definitely order wild salmon. I could almost promise you a lot of the local canneries or fish shops around town would ship it out. Maybe google it for more options.
That link sounds good, though. Funny, that company is not in the highest regards around here, but I'm sure their fish are just fine

Personally, reds are my favorite. Kings are awesome-kind of steaklike.

Halibut's wonderful but limit how much you eat since they're bottom fish.

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mama2annabelle

· #14 · Oct 1, 2003

Anndria,

We usually get the least expensive salmon--I think it's called silver salmon. We have also tried sockeye salmon, but found that it tasted the same but is more expensive, so we're sticking to the silver. DH has also tried the cod and the scallops and he liked them.

BusyMommy--please fill me in on why the company is not in the highest regards.

Marlena

· #15 · Oct 1, 2003

The reason wild salmon is pink is because of the shrimp in their diet. I'm not familiar with the dye used in farmed salmon, but please understand that in both wild and farmed salmon, pigments from things they ingest are responsible for their pink color, rather than anything inherent to the fish themselves.

As others have pointed out, the real reason not to eat farmed salmon is their high PCB levels. Stick to wild salmon.

beanma

· #16 · Oct 1, 2003

i was just catching up with some reading in the bathroom last night

and had the july issue of national geographic in there. they had an article on atlantic salmon that talked about how they're farmed (crammed into small pens, fed pellets with dye to make them pink, pooping all over themselves, sea lice, pesticides and antibiotics in their food) and the danger they pose to the wild population if they escape and interbreed or spread disease. there are still catches of wild atlantic salmon, but their population is much lower than that of the wild pacific salmon so it's pretty controversial. it was an interesting article. anyone wanting to know more might check it out.

the environmental working group link is great, too (www.ewg.com). i think someone mentioned how the farmed doesn't have the good ratio of omega 3 fatty acids anyway which is one of the big reasons to eat the fish in the first place.

we eat a good bit of canned wild pacific salmon. i'm sure you can find the wild pacific steaks or fillets somewhere in PA since we can find it here in NC, but you may have to go out to a specialty store or somewhere like whole foods (where i usually get it). it is in season now, so it's a good time to look. it is expensive, though. around here it's about $11 or $12 a pound compared to $4 for the farmed crap on special. the canned wild is about $2 a can and i can find that anywhere.

p.s. i was just looking at the great alaskan seafood link. i only see the king salmon with "wild" in the name. are the rest wild, too?

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BusyMommy

· #17 · Oct 1, 2003

mama2annabelle--it's just politics, nothing to do w/their product. Supposed to be a big financial boon for the state and it's producing next to no $ w/a huge financial output. Has a lovely humongous building for just a little business. Has subsidies, but I kind of tuned out last time I heard about it on the news--sorry!

If I have energy

: I'll ask around about who ships.

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