Are You Trading Omega-3s for PCBs with Your Choice of Salmon?

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There are some highly suspect goings-on in the salmon industry and it’s important to know what’s happening. I was horrified when I read about this and you will have to admit the obvious when you read this report – that manufacturing food in this fashion can’t possibly be in either our interests – let alone those of the salmon!

Salmon is “supposed” to be a rich source of Omega-3s, which are of particular dietary importance and less commonly available than Omega-6s. For best health it’s regarded as important that the ratio of these substances be correct in the diet and the typical American diet is way too high in Omega 6s, with people getting on average 10 to 20 times too much omega-6 as they need.

Part of the problem is that Omega-3 levels in farmed salmon have been dropping drastically – and this is due to the diet that the salmon are being fed. One of the problems is that the small fish that salmon are supposed to eat have been heavily overfished, meaning that salmon farmers have turned to other options. Farmed salmon are now being fed the weirdest “alien diet” imaginable – including Feather Meal, Canola Oil, Gelatin, Swine Byproducts, Poultry Meal, Fish Meal, Poultry Fat, Fish Oil, Whole Wheat, Soybean Meal, Corn Gluten Meal and other unsavory protein and fat sources.

Swine byproducts? Feather meal? Come on now. This is NOT what salmon are supposed to eat! Essentially, the waste products from factory animal farming are being ground up and fed to other animals. This disgusting practice has actually been going on on a very large scale in the food industry for some years. Several years ago “Mad Cow Disease” was triggered by the fact that cattle were being fed the ground up parts of other cattle. Just horrible. Am I the only one who thinks this is absolute animal abuse?

In a global assessment of farmed salmon, ^[1] persistent pollutants were found. Some of the most dangerous are PCBs, which have been strongly associated with cancer, reproductive and other health problems. PCB concentrations in farmed salmon were found to be eight times higher than in wild salmon.

The atrocity of salmon farming goes further than just their diet. They are kept in very overcrowded environments and therefore don’t get enough exercise. The fish also produce copious amounts of waste and this excrement builds up in the pens. In order to combat disease in this highly artificial environment, significant amounts of antibiotics and pesticides are being used – which both pollute the marine environment and also the food we are eating!

Did you know also that farmed salmon are very often dyed (pigment added to their food) in order to give them a bright “healthy” color that mimics that of their wild, healthy counterparts.

Additionally, we now have the food industry pushing through GMO salmon despite a petition signed by over 2 million Americans. It is thought that this “frankenfish” could even cause the extinction of natural salmon populations. Big industry is also currently attempting to push through a huge secret trade deal (TPP) which will “protect” their interests and allow them to go further into these nefarious practices with impunity under the guise of reframing food safety standards as “illegal trade barriers”. Learn more about that here.

The modern food industry is truly messed up – and if people truly knew the truth about their prettily packaged food, the industry would be forced to better standards…

More in-depth report on farmed salmon (including tips on how to be sure that salmon is actually wild – much is mislabeled!): Mercola: Are You Trading Omega-3s for PCBs with Your Choice of Salmon?