Guys, we hate to admit it, but even some dietitians aren’t always so attune to EVERY single nutrition issue that comes up with our food. After all, if you’re in a hurry, trying to get through the store to feed your family, it’s easy to overlook a thing or two! One of those for me, was the difference in farm raised vs wild caught fish.
So, a few years ago, there I was standing in the meat section looking at some pre-sliced, pre-portioned salmon, and I happened to notice that there was a price difference in the salmon from the choice on the left and the choice on the right- clearly significant enough that I noticed!- And like any frugal shopper, I explored further.
I then noticed, that the salmon on the left was lighter in color than that on the right – still weird, right? I hadn’t figured it out yet…. until I continued comparing labels and the salmon on the left was farm raised. OK, not so bad, until I saw that the label said “ARTIFICIAL COLOR ADDED”. GROSS.
That was the last day I ever even considered purchasing farmed fish, and now it’s fresh caught only. I was incredibly offended that they have to add artificial color to my food! I mean, it’s salmon? Not anything you think might have something like Red #40 on the label!
Truth be told, the color of the fish may vary between Atlantic and Sockeye Salmon…. which doesn’t have anything to do with the nutrient content; however, I was not ok with fresh fish that had artificial color added.
So, then I did a little research. Before I tell you what I learned, let me give some background about what most dietitians are attune to. And as an aside, my background is working with sick patients in a hospital-style setting. I handle patients needing assistance with serious medical conditions; less so, optimizing nutrient intake for generally healthy people.
After doing a little research, calorie for calorie, fat gram for fat gram, farm-raised and fresh-caught are not the same, as I originally thought. That being said, the real difference here is on a micronutrient level that does make a difference, but possibly only minimally. As a reminder, micronutrients are the nutrients you require as part of a healthy diet (like magnesium, potassium, fatty acids, etc), on a much smaller level than carbohydrate, fat & protein, which we identify as macronutrients, or calorie-providing nutrients.
So lets go over some immediate concerns that I had when the decision came to farm-raised vs wild caught:
- Diet of Farmed Fish – Guess what they eat? FEED. High fat, high protein feed, to produce larger fish with more meat, for more gross product, which equals more dinero. This is great for business/increasing the availability of said fish to many Americans (did you know up to 90% of fish consumed in the US is farmed fish?), but what is it doing to the quality of the fish that we will then consume?
If this is something you’re interested in, I highly recommend the book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma“. The author addresses a lot more controversial issues, similar to this. Definitely thought provoking!
- Nutrient Content – They are calorically similar – ish, but the micronutrient content does differ. Farmed salmon is higher in fat generally, and over 3 times higher in saturated fat. But wait? I thought salmon was really high in Omega-3s? And aren’t those supposed to be good for you? Well, yes, they are, but when farm raised salmon is fed a diet that it is not supposed to consume, in nature, that nutrient profile changes. Farm-raised is also significantly higher in Omega-6 fatty acids, which are known to be pro-inflammatory vs the anti inflammatory properties of the Omega-3s. Regardless, the amount of Omega-6 is not so high as to be concerned when eating farmed salmon.
- Contamination – This actually has pros and cons with either type of fish. Farmed fish live in pools, and swim around in their own waste; additionally, fish can ingest harmful contaminants from the water they swim in, which may even include wild caught fish from the ocean. A 2004 study showed that levels of one common carcinogenic chemical (PCBs) was higher in farm-raised fish.
THE VERDICT: So what’s the best choice? Well, that’s a bit of a loaded question. For my family, I stick with wild caught. That being said, if the choice is farm-raised salmon vs. a fast food cheeseburger, or a large pizza, farm-raised salmon is still the better choice. If it fits in your budget, however, I’d choose wild caught over farm raised any day.
**Consult further with your doctor or dietitian regarding individual recommendations for your health.**
