OT: Don't know what my frozen salmon package's words mean

nightowl
on 7/31/11 4:43 pm - Topeka, KS
Supposedly this is "Pure & Natural Wild Pacific Salmon."  Brand is Aqua Star.
But towards the bottom of the back of the package it says
"Wild Caught
Harvested in Alaska
Product of China
Processed for U.S.A."

and
"Packed exclusively for:
Aqua Star
2025 First Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121 U.S.A."

And, "this product comes from a fishery that has been independently certified to the MSC's standard for a well-managed and sustainable fishery.  www.msc.org "

It's nutrition label says it only gives 4 grams of protein per ounce.  SpQr told me wild salmon has much higher protein per ounce than farm-raised.  This seems to have farm-level protein?
Twi light
on 7/31/11 9:33 pm, edited 8/1/11 6:20 am - NY
farm raised fish is generally fattier with atleast 20% less protein. Same as other farm raised stuff it is bulked up for sale with no necessarly what would be found out in nature, and having the fish put on fat is cheaper


I will take this label to mean that the fish is caught in the wild then brought to the farm in china and then  "raised" there  and processed for USA.

Truly most confusing label in the universe? 

also type of salmon matters, for example Sockeye salmon is about 7.7 grams of protein per OZ and Wild Coho salmon is about 6.



http://www.paystolivegreen.com/2009/02/wild-salmon-vs-farmed-raised-which-is-better/

Nutrition

Salmon is low in saturated fats and calories, contains high levels of protein and healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are consider essential because our body cannot naturally produce them, but can be founds in foods like salmon. It also an extremely good source in other nutrients including selenium, niacin and vitamin B12 along with being a good source in many other vitamins and minerals. Wild salmon is far more nutritious in terms of fat and protein content. Wild fish contain 20% more protein, 20% less fat and are in general much smaller. Even being fattier, farmed raised contain much less usable omega-3 fatty acids and and contain higher levels of omega-6 fatty acids. The lower the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids. Wild fish in general contain a much more favorable ratio of omega-3’s to omega-6. The ratio for salmon is 15:1 for wild as compared to 3:1 for farmed raised.



EDIT:  I googled this label around, based on what i read, this fish is caught wild in alaska and send to china for cutting/cleaning/fileting and packaging b/c the labor is cheaper there and then it is send back to the USA for sale.


EDIT  to add:  RE what Elizabeth N said: Actually how the fish is raised plays a crucial part to it is fat content. it has NOTHING to do with the fish being injected with liquid prior to packaging etc.  Farmed fish lives in tight quarters and is fed a diet engineered specifically to fatten it up. The farmed fish is fatter and has a lower protein content because of it. Post mortem it may get injected, to bulk it up for sale but that is not going to change the fact that it starts out fattier and lower in protein.  Farmed fish is SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER than natrual wild salmon and it is not because it developed more muscle mass.......... it is because it got fed to get fat just like a million other farmed meat products.


http://lmgtfy.com/?q=farmed+vs+wild+salmon+


        
nightowl
on 8/1/11 7:28 am - Topeka, KS
Thank you for the research and web citations.
I feel so torn between my ideals on which products to buy, vs budget.
Elizabeth N.
on 8/1/11 8:02 am - Burlington County, NJ
I see little miss ignoramus figured out how to read around a block.

It still stuns and saddens me that she is an "educator," because she doesn't know the difference between a blog article based on other blog articles and journalism pieces and a scholarly source without ANY industry or politically based bias. This must be a major reason why so many students arrive at college not knowing that Wikipedia is not an original research source.

Bottom line? For your needs, the source of the fish makes very little difference. You absorb almost NONE of those EFA's from your food anyhow and need to supplement them.  IF there really is less of them in farm raised fish; remember, we have yet to see a SCHOLARLY RESEARCH SOURCE on that.

As for as "20% lower protein ratio," which again is COMPLETELY UNSUPPORTED BY A SINGLE SCHOLARLY INDEPENDENT RESEARCH SOURCE, how much protein difference is that per ounce? 1.4 grams. Oh okay. So in order to be super safe *snort*,  my 25 grams of protein per serving of our mythical farm raised salmon is *gasp* 5 ounces of salmon instead of 4.

For your weird salmon which might be wild, farmed, injected or just mislabeled, it's 6 ounces. Easy peasy, all done.

So buy whatever animal source protein fits your budget, remembering that if it's labeled as lower in protein than what you expect (deli meats are a great example of this; the cheaper stuff has MUCH less protein per ounce), you have to adjust your serving size to get what you need.

That, in turn, might mean that the cheaper stuff isn't such a bargain after all.

The food supply in the USA is oh, so much safer than all these fearmongers make it out to be. When you buy as fresh and as local as you can, you are likely getting better quality. You might or might not be making a positive impact on the environment. However, the closer you can get to getting your food directly from the producer, the more of your food dollar is going to the person who lives to see that you eat.

Please thank a farmer or rancher or fisherman today. Remember, they are keeping your nation free, because a nation that cannot feed itself is but one step from becoming a failed nation.

And that is MY political statement for the day.

Elizabeth N.
on 8/1/11 8:13 am - Burlington County, NJ
I'm back again. Unlike Miss Ignoramus, I know how to use a lovely invention called Google Scholar. I just went through the first three pages of results on "farm raised vs. wild caught salmon." Took me ten minutes max to flip through abstracts and see where anybody says a darned thing about protein superiority of wild caught salmon. Not a one. A few suggest (notice SUGGEST) possible differences in SOME fatty acids, and a few suggest a POSSIBLE indication of higher levels of certain toxins in farm raised fish, RIGHT ALONGSIDE the POSSIBLE indication of higher levels of OTHER toxins in the wild fish.

I'm not going to bother going through those articles and finding out little details like sample size (the first one looked at, um, four fish of each kind....hello?), sampling methods, WHO sponsored the studies, etc.

This is why you have to be very careful about examining your sources. By all means, examine mine too. Just don't expect me to go find them all for you (that's generic you, not you specifically, of course). It takes mere moments to do what I just did. It's easy. Ah, I love the Internet :-).

nightowl
on 8/1/11 8:35 am - Topeka, KS
Thank you for your info. posted as well.  I didn't mean to start a dispute.  I'm just a pacifist Mennonite (but I do thank your husband for his service)!  I was trying to see if there was any way I could stay neutral, and I hadn't found a way, so I hadn't replied to you yet.
Elizabeth N.
on 8/1/11 9:57 am - Burlington County, NJ
You don't have to respond to any of that. It's all info for your use :-). Your bottom line as you first presented it is that you're looking for reliable protein on a budget. THAT bottom line is all but utterly unaffected by the question of where your salmon grew up. My irritation with people who cite blogs and magazine articles as if they contained reliable facts is another matter altogether and has nothing to do with you.

Mr. EN and I always appreciate folks who appreciate military folks :-D. Personal pacifism is IMO a right Americans should be free to embrace. It's unfortunate that governments cannot function without a military arm.

Germany has had compulsory service for men for as long as I can remember--and I'm unaware of that rule being extended to women (does anyone know otherwise?), though they do have the option to volunteer. There is almost always the option to do alternative service if a young man opposes military service for reasons of conscience.

(deactivated member)
on 8/1/11 4:04 am
Elizabeth N.
on 8/1/11 4:52 am - Burlington County, NJ
Wild vs. farm raised is bull**** A fish that has had nothing added has the same amount of protein per ounce period. People who know nothing about agriculture annoy me *sigh*.

Anyone who can show me real scientific PROOF of this is welcome to post the real thing. It ain't so.

What DOES happen quite a lot is that critter products (wild or farm) get injected with liquids and stuff to make them juicier and more palatable. This lowers the protein content considerably. By law, US packages must show this to be the fact, by saying what percent of water/broth is injected.

My interpretation of that packaging is: Caught in AK, shipped to China for processing and packaged, theoretically according to USA labeling and packaging standards, under the auspices of that company, which supervises shipping and distribution. It might have been shipped to various locales directly from China or from any other location.

I am puzzled at the assertion of 4 grams per ounce, though. I am suspicious of the packaging more than of the product, but I would not buy it again in any case.

Twi light
on 8/1/11 10:58 am - NY
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1992. tb05470.x/abstract


ABSTRACT

Wild and cultivated channel catfish, rainbow trout, coho salmon, red swamp crayfish, white river crayfish and Eastern oysters were analyzed raw and cooked for proximate composition and ten vitamins. Cultivated catfish had 5 and salmon 2 1/2 times more fat than their wild counterparts. In all other species wild and cultivated samples had similar nutrient content. Cholesterol was independent of fat content and similar in wild and cultivated samples. Vitamin B12 in 100g met or exceeded the 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for adults of 2 μg/day in all species. Other B vitamines seldom exceeded 10% of the RDA except for niacin in finfish. Vitamin A, ascorbic acid and folic acid levels were negligible.



 

        
Recent Topics
×