Is Farmed Salmon Bad for You?
Sometimes healthy food choices are easy: You know leafy greens are nutritious, seasonal veggies are wholesome, and sugar is best left on the shelf.
But when it comes to fish, things can get complicated. Although salmon is often recommended as part of a healthy diet, there’s an ongoing debate about whether farmed or wild is best to eat, and whether one type in particular may actually be dangerous.
Rich in heart-healthy omega-3s, salmon is a low-calorie protein source that’s also low in saturated fat. The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two 3.5-ounce servings of fatty fish like salmon every week.
Now the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are even encouraging pregnant and breastfeeding women — two groups historically discouraged from consuming too much seafood — to eat a minimum of two servings a week as well.
Here’s a look at the controversy surrounding the benefits and pitfalls of farmed versus wild fish.
What’s the problem with farmed salmon?
The majority of salmon on the market is farm-raised, meaning it’s farmed and harvested under controlled conditions in sea cages or net pens. The problem, according to some researchers, is that the crowded conditions of most farms can cause contamination.
A 2003 report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that seven out of ten farmed salmon purchased in grocery stores in San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Portland were contaminated with cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at “levels that raise health concerns.”
Additionally, farmed salmon has been found to contain toxic chemicals methylmercury and dioxins, and farms have been accused of polluting the oceans, fostering disease, and spreading sea lice.
Salmon farms have also been criticized for other questionable practices, including the content of the feed, which is often supplemented with chemicals to give the fish their pink color (wild salmon develop it naturally).