Chile Salmon Farmers Say US - Bound Fish Safe
Date: 12-Jan-04
Country: CHILE
A study published in this week's issue of the journal Science found far more toxic chemicals in farmed salmon than in wild salmon, suggesting fish eaters should limit how much they eat.
Industry group SalmonChile said Chilean farmed salmon, most of which is consumed in the United States and Japan, had the lowest level of contaminants of all the samples analyzed and contained the least harmful types of toxins of the 13 chemicals researchers looked for.
"The Chilean fish contain - in very reduced quantities - the least relevant elements of all those considered in the analysis," SalmonChile said in a statement.
The chemicals include polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, dioxins and others, some of which are pesticides, industrial by-products or suspected cancer-causing agents.
The PCBs found in salmon cultivated in North and South America were 80 times lower than the allowable level set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, SalmonChile said.
Health experts have recommended salmon for its high level of the Omega-3 fatty acids which can reduce the risk of heart attacks, among other benefits.
The South American country's salmon exports, which totaled $989 million in January-November 2003, have soared in the past 10 years and now represent 35 percent of the world's total, compared with Norway's 37 percent.
Salmon is Chile's fourth largest export after copper, wood pulp and fruit but the product has come under fire in recent months for using more antibiotics than their northern peers and for testing positive for the anti-fungal malachite.
SalmonChile said the sample used by researchers at the University of Indiana were obtained two years ago and the industry has improved its feeding methods since then.
"The industry has made constant efforts to reduce the presence of PCBs, which is reflected in a reduction, according to the FDA, of 28 percent between 1998 and 2001," it said.