Fish
Farming Today - Published on: May 02, 2003
THE Scottish salmon farming industry is concerned
that legal action in the United States could have
implications for them.
Scottish Quality Salmon
says this is another attempt to discredit salmon
farming, which is already highly regulated.
Lawsuits, filed in
Seattle, accuse three supermarket chains of not giving
consumers the full information about farmed salmon,
which they claim would have grey-coloured flesh, and
would sell at lower prices, if synthetic colours were
not added. The lawsuits claim damages for consumers
who have over-paid for their salmon over a number of
years.
Wild salmon’s pink
colour is from from naturally occurring pigments in
their diet of small marine animals. Synthetic versions
of the naturally occurring colourings astaxanthin and
canthaxanthin are added to salmon feed, and also to
chicken feed and to margarine to give added colouring.
The US Food and Drug Administration passed a law in
1995 to oblige retailers to provide labelling to tell
consumers that salmon contains synthetic colouring.
Brian Simpson, chief
executive of SQS, said it is no secret that
astaxanthin and canthaxanthin are included in salmon
feed. “It is all regulated and there is no requirement
in this country to label the salmon. It would be like
requiring beef to be labelled with everything the
animal has eaten. The argument is about whether this
is an additive to the food, or an additive to the fish
itself. These colourings are anti-oxidants and are
part of what keeps the farmed fish healthy." |
