• grandel@lemmy.ml
    cake
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    104
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    2 months ago

    “Fun” fact: Salmon from farmes are actually gray/pale-ish and coloured via their feed. You can order your salmon in a predefined tint.

    • ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      72
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      As stated, it is because they don’t eat little crustaceans and krill in the Salmon farms. These critters have Astaxanthin in them (same stuff that makes flamingoes pink).

      Astaxanthin is just the pigment that is naturally produced by these animals. It can be synthetically produced using yeast or algae - the synthetic stuff is chemically identical to the naturally-occurring stuff.

      I feel like the implication when you see “farmed salmon is grey” is typically “and therefore it is bad/toxic/unhealthy/unnatural, etc”. Really, the color just means they just have less naturally occurring astaxanthin in their diet. Astaxanthin is an antioxidant and is good for you - and plays a role in the growth and development of the salmon. However, when it is produced synthetically and added into the fishes’ feed to give them color & aid their development, it has the same effect as if it were from krill.

      There are problems with salmon farming (environmental and animal welfare issues, though there can also be disease and contaminant issues dependent on farm location/conditions), but the actual meat is not nutritionally very different from wild salmon. It can actually have similar or even higher omega-3 content because farmed salmon are fatter (though their fat is higher in omega-6 and lower in omega-3 than wild-caught salmon).

      • anon6789@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        29
        ·
        2 months ago

        Wow, both of you taught me some neat stuff! Astaxanthin sounds like it plays multiple roles in the lifecycle of salmon and is one of the most powerful antioxidants as well, so it benefits those of us that eat salmon. It’s also the same reason/process that makes flamingos their beautiful color.

        • HerbGrower@slrpnk.net
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          2 months ago

          Why would they be surprised? Don’t most people know not to eat random unidentified plants?

          Although my garden is filled with things that are edible because that is the point of growing them.

      • webghost0101@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        Salmon is my number 1 food i want scientists to start growing in labs, cheaply and without animal harm.

        We are far off still but i am rooting.

        • ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          2 months ago

          It’s big carnivorous ocean-dwelling fish for me - like tuna, swordfish, etc - both because many of their fisheries are in very poor health/are destructive to the environment and because of the heavy metals issue.

        • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          6
          ·
          2 months ago

          Cows would probably have a much bigger global impact. Do you have good reasons or just selfishly because you think they taste better?

          • webghost0101@sopuli.xyz
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            13
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            2 months ago

            I mean i gladly take lab grown beef, it would indeed be great for the climate. Any lab grown meat is positive.

            But yeah i do selfishly just want to eat more salmon more often because currently sashimi grade salmon is just too expensive for my budget.

          • wander1236@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            2 months ago

            They did say “my number 1”. I think it’s okay to have hypothetical desires that don’t fully align with what’s best for the world, especially since wanting salmon to be grown in the lab doesn’t mean they don’t want lab beef.

      • take6056@feddit.nl
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        2 months ago

        A potential “no stupid questions”-question.

        Will I turn pink if I eat enough Astaxanthin? Is it toxic in the amounts that would be necessary?

      • PabloSexcrowbar@piefed.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 months ago

        I don’t know if it’s placebo, but I think I notice a difference in flavor between wild-caught and farm-raised salmon. I guess it’s like beef from cows that are raised with care versus beef from those that aren’t?

        • ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          2 months ago

          Oh there’s definitely a taste difference - mainly because of diet. Farm-raised salmon eat feed made of various grain-starches, oils, and fish meal supplemented by vitamins and minerals while salmon in the wild eat a much different diet. But nutritionally there isn’t a substantial difference.

          As an aside, the salmon fisheries in North America are some of the best-managed and most sustainable in the world. So if you can afford it, then wild caught salmon is a great choice.

    • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      64
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      SYNTHETIC astaxanthin.

      Yes yes, very spooky sounding. Do you know how they make it? By farming the same damn algae that salmon eat.

      People get their panties in a bunch about farmed versus wild salmon. It’s the same damn thing. Eat what you can afford.

      • mlg@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        2 months ago

        Eat what you can afford.

        Is the real take away but I can pretty much always taste the difference between farmed and caught fish because their diet and exercise isn’t the same. And no, I’m not talking about the freshness quality, that’s just universally ass in the USA because we import fish from across the globe.

        But the global demand for seafood is so damn high that I’d rather put up with farmed fish than nuking the entire ocean.

        My main issue is diet source and water filtration. (most) Fish evolved to basically not spend energy mitigating toxins and other heavy metals in their bodies because they’re used to living in a constant stream of water, hence why they generate ammonia instead of urea, because the sheer volume of water will dillute it away.

        Both wild and farmed fish are highly susceptible to polluted food and water, which we really do not take enough care of these days lol.

      • HerbGrower@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        2 months ago

        I thought the problem was damage to the environment rather than any health risks for eating it.

        Although I think most of those problems could be solved and it is just cheaper not to bother.

      • rain_enjoyer@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 months ago

        Nah it can also be fully synthetic, but it’s the same thing, it’s just preferred carotenoid for them

        • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 month ago

          That’s true, but I really I’m reluctant to say that because people are kind of dumb. It’s like the ones that hear there’s aluminum in your vaccines. Like yeah, but it’s bound to other atoms and not at all aluminum anymore.

          Stupid people don’t get nuance.