I recently stumbled upon a social media video that claimed Costco's farm-raised salmon is actually dyed to look pink and is otherwise gray, unlike the richly orange-colored wild-caught salmon. I quickly ran to my freezer and looked at my bag of frozen Kirkland-brand salmon and, sure enough, under the ingredients was "color added." Likewise, the frozen farm-raised Atlantic salmon I had from Whole Foods (yes, I really like salmon) lists "astaxanthin (color)" as an ingredient.
I won't lie: This fact made me feel queasy. Here I was, for years, thinking I was eating healthy fish from reputable grocery stores when the internet was convincing me otherwise. But as we all well know, you can't believe everything you see on social media. So, I set out to interview experts about the real differences between farm-raised and wild salmon and ask them if that "dye" is really so bad—and the truth surprised me.
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Most farm-raised salmon isn't actually "dyed."
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My biggest takeaway from speaking with experts about farm-raised vs. wild salmon is that it's somewhat of a myth about the former being "dyed."
"Salmon gets its color from the carotenoids in the food it eats, regardless of whether it is wild-caught or farm-raised," notes Rima Kleiner, RD, licensed dietitian and nutritionist and founder of Dish on Fish.
However, there is a bit of a difference.
"Farmed salmon is naturally gray because they don’t eat the same diet as wild salmon," explains Catherine Gervacio, RND, a registered nutritionist and diet consultant for WOWMD. "So, to make them pink, farmers add astaxanthin to their feed, which is the same antioxidant that wild salmon get from eating krill and shrimp." (This is the ingredient in the Whole Foods salmon.)
"The astaxanthin used in fish farms is synthetic, but it’s generally considered safe to eat," she adds.
Astaxanthin is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) specifically for its use "in the feed of salmonid to enhance color of flesh," with a limit set of "80 mg/kg of finished product."
Also of note is that astaxanthin is a carotenoid (a naturally occurring antioxidant that gives fruits, vegetables, and plants their color) commonly used in supplement form to reduce inflammation, reduce oxidative stress, reduce muscle damage from exercise, and more.
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Farm-raised and wild-caught salmon have similar nutrient profiles.
Another positive fact I learned is that both types of salmon are equally good for your "brain, heart, and overall health," according to Kleiner.
"Just like wild-caught, farmed salmon is a complete protein source and contains essential omega-3 fatty acids, along with B vitamins, vitamin D, vitamin E, selenium, and potassium," she shares.
When I compare Whole Foods' Farm-Raised Atlantic Salmon to their Wild-Caught Sockeye Salmon, both have the same amount of potassium and iron. However, the farm-raised provides 60 percent of the daily recommended value of vitamin D, while the wild-caught provides 80 percent. This comes down to where the wild salmon is from and what it was feeding on.
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But there are drawbacks to some farm-raised salmon.
Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks to farm-raised salmon.
A lot of people actually prefer farmed salmon because it's thicker and fattier. But like most tasty things, it ends being worse for you.
When comparing the two Whole Foods versions, the farmed salmon has 15 grams of fat and 3.5 grams of saturated fat per 4-ounce serving, while the wild has only 5 grams and 1 gram. A serving of the farmed is 240 calories, compared to 150 in the wild.
Numbers aside, the reason for this discrepancy might be the most off-putting: "Since wild salmon get plenty of exercise in the open ocean, they have less fat and fewer calories than farmed salmon," explains Gervacio.
There's also potential toxicity that comes from farmed salmon. "Wild salmon have lower levels of pollutants since they eat a natural diet than processed feed from the farmed ones," notes Gervacio.
This is more of a concern if the salmon comes from a less-regulated farm where Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a probable carcinogenic, and heavy metals could be present in the feed.
"[Farmed salmon] may also have higher amounts of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids and less of the heart-healthy omega-3s that wild salmon is actually famous for," she adds. "Not all farmed salmon is created equal!"
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Ultimately, it comes down to knowing where your salmon is from.
Curious to get another perspective, I asked the fishmonger at my local Whole Foods about the salmon debate. He told me, in his experience, it's more important to know where your salmon is coming from rather than whether it's wild or farmed.
For example, my bag of farmed Costco salmon reads, "FARM RAISED. PRODUCT OF NORWAY," while my bag of farmed Whole Foods salmon says, "FARM RAISED IN NORWAY. PRODUCT OF GERMANY."
However, both say they're Atlantic salmon...
Max Valentine, director of Oceana’s illegal fishing and transparency campaign, told The Washington Post that "product of" specifies where the salmon was last "substantially transformed," meaning that's where it was processed and packaged.
"This comes with a decent amount of risk," he explained. "There’s opportunities for fraud and mislabeling and importers buying products that they don’t actually realize are not what they’re paying for."
WaPo also turned to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, which is considered a leading scientific source of information about sustainable seafood. According to their Sustainable Salmon Guide, "Avoid farmed Atlantic salmon from Canada, Chile, Norway, or Scotland."
The exceptions to this rule are "when purchasing from businesses committed to sustainable seafood, it’s ASC-certified, or you confirm it’s from a yellow-rated source." To this point, they specifically note that "Whole Foods Market follows our recommendations for wild seafood and has a proprietary standard for farmed seafood."
Of course, the cost also comes into play. Generally, farmed salmon is significantly cheaper than wild.
The takeaway:
Ultimately, it's a "myth" that farm-raised salmon is dyed, but it does have some drawbacks when compared to wild salmon, namely that it's fattier and may contain unknown toxins.
When it comes to what the experts eat themselves, Gervacio is partial to Alaskan wild-caught salmon (Sockeye, Coho, or King), calling it "some of the cleanest, healthiest salmon out there."
Kleiner says she eats both farmed and wild salmon: "What kind of salmon I choose on that particular shopping trip depends on what's on sale that week, what dish I'm making or what flavor profile I'm in the mood for."
