How safe is wild salmon from China?

Hi- I was in Jewel today, and noticed that they had 2 pound bags of frozen wild salmon on sale for $8.99, which is really cheap, and I ended up buying a package of it. It says on the bag though it is wild caught, and a product of China. Does anybody know how salmon from China compares to Alaskan salmon. Alaskan salmon is supposed to be very sustainable, but I don't know about fish from China. Anybody have any idea how sustainable Chinese fish is?
Thanks, Nancy

I wouldn't eat it. Do you believe them when they say it is wild caught? I think they would say anything to make a buck.

Cogito wrote:I wouldn't eat it. Do you believe them when they say it is wild caught? I think they would say anything to make a buck.

Which differs from how American companies do business... how?

Maybe not a huge difference, but I think we have more safeguards in place to monitor the safety, cleanliness, and quality of our foods than exists in China. I think US food companies will try to get away with anything that can fly under the radar, whereas in China there is no radar.

NFriday wrote: It says on the bag though it is wild caught, and a product of China. Does anybody know how salmon from China compares to Alaskan salmon. Alaskan salmon is supposed to be very sustainable,...

Are you sure the salmon is from China? With fish - especially salmon - "product of China" usually means that it is caught somewhere else (Alaska, frequently) then frozen and shipped to China for processing. In China, it is thawed, processed into multiple saleable forms (e.g., bags of filets for Jewel and Costco), then frozen again and shipped back here to be sold cheaply. It's one of the most convoluted food chains imaginable, and I despise the fact that it exists. Personally, I would never buy the crap - partially to protest the system, but mostly because it has lousy taste and texture.

Even American salmon products can be processed in China (cheap labor is cheap labor), so if you have a phobia of all things Chinese, you're going to have a hard time evading their grasp.

Cogito wrote:Maybe not a huge difference, but I think we have more safeguards in place to monitor the safety, cleanliness, and quality of our foods than exists in China. I think US food companies will try to get away with anything that can fly under the radar, whereas in China there is no radar.

The Jewel she's thinking of purchasing the salmon from is not in China, is it?

In China, they farm the salmon and feed them on a ground surplus Chinese dry wall.

mrbarolo wrote:In China, they farm the salmon and feed them on a ground surplus Chinese dry wall.

Mmm... gypsum! Salmon feed, tofu coagulant, is there anything that magical mineral can't do?

-Dan

NFriday wrote:Hi- I was in Jewel today, and noticed that they had 2 pound bags of frozen wild salmon on sale for $8.99, which is really cheap, and I ended up buying a package of it. It says on the bag though it is wild caught, and a product of China. Does anybody know how salmon from China compares to Alaskan salmon. Alaskan salmon is supposed to be very sustainable, but I don't know about fish from China. Anybody have any idea how sustainable Chinese fish is?
Thanks, Nancy

My understanding is that fish caught in the United States (or some other country) and then sent to China for processing must be labeled as a product of China.

But I'm not sure what your question is. The thread title asks how safe the fish is. Your post seems more concerned about whether it is really wild caught. These aren't necessarily the same thing. Are you worried about the environmental impact of farmed salmon? Are you worried about PCBs in farmed salmon?

According to Seafood Watch, unless the salmon is from an inland tank, you should avoid farmed salmon.

Hi- Thanks everyone for your response. When I saw product of China, I just assumed that it came from the Chinese side of the Pacific ocean, and I was concerned how pristine the waters were there, and whether government oversight was nearly as good as it is in this country for fish. I did not realize that the salmon probably comes from Alaska, and is processed in China. This makes actually no sense. I have noticed that Sam's Club also mostly sells salmon that is processed in another country. I can not remember if it is processed in China or Chile. I have not tried the salmon yet, but I think I will pass on it next time. Thanks, Nancy

This makes actually no sense.

Laborers paid $1/day vs. laborers paid $7.50/hr to remove pin bones and cut fish into portions. Makes sense to the company.

spinynorman99 wrote:

This makes actually no sense.

Laborers paid $1/day vs. laborers paid $7.50/hr to remove pin bones and cut fish into portions. Makes sense to the company.

Nancy, my guess is that that the computer you are using, the car you drive, and most of the appliances in your house, were manufactured in considerably more complicated ways. Parts come from all over the world, are partially assembled in one place, then shipped to another country and combined with parts from different countries to make a final product, then shipped all around the world for sale. Shipping is comparatively cheap, so it doesn't take much of a difference in production costs to make these arrangements profitable.

Darren72 wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:

This makes actually no sense.

Laborers paid $1/day vs. laborers paid $7.50/hr to remove pin bones and cut fish into portions. Makes sense to the company.

Nancy, my guess is that that the computer you are using, the car you drive, and most of the appliances in your house, were manufactured in considerably more complicated ways...

Apt analogies, as fish products made this way taste about as good as a household appliance too.

kanin wrote:

Cogito wrote:Maybe not a huge difference, but I think we have more safeguards in place to monitor the safety, cleanliness, and quality of our foods than exists in China. I think US food companies will try to get away with anything that can fly under the radar, whereas in China there is no radar.

The Jewel she's thinking of purchasing the salmon from is not in China, is it?

Nobody said it was.

Buy wild caught in the USA or farm raised in the USA. The farm fish can be good most of the times.
MY first and ONLY choice is wild caught in the USA.

What's wrong with Scottish, Norwegian or other Salmon other than not being American?

Scottish, Norwegian, and Chilean salmon are all farmed, not wild.

Habibi wrote:What's wrong with Scottish, Norwegian or Salmon other than not being American?

As long as it's not farm raised, nothing.

stevez wrote:

Habibi wrote:What's wrong with Scottish, Norwegian or Salmon other than not being American?

As long as it's not farm raised, nothing.

This is true...guess I just prefer the U.S. fish.
I need to fill the freezer this year with some Copper River salmon.
http://www.copperriversalmon.org/copper_river_salmon.html
May 15th the season for these open look for them soon after at store around town!!

Ah yes! Copper River salmon finds a *lot* of LTH fans!

Geo

It's my understanding that if you buy Alaskan salmon you can only get wild. There's no farming of salmon in Alaska.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_salmon_fishery

It's my understanding that if you buy Alaskan salmon you can only get wild. There's no farming of salmon in Alaska.

There's no conventional farming but the "wild" salmon are "enhanced" by salmon in hatcheries. They pretty much start them as farmed and then finish them in the wild. So not quite farmed, not quite wild.

Hi- I tried some of the wild salmon product of China tonight. The elderly couple that I cook for asked me to fix them some salmon for dinner tonight. I only fixed one fillet, but between the two of them they only eat about half of it. When I mentioned to the wife about what I found out the product of China meant, she asked me if it was safe to eat. I assured her it was. I tried a bite of it before I put the leftovers away, and I was not overjoyed with it. I have definitely had better salmon. It did not have a lot of taste to it. Unfortunately, I bought 1 two pound bag for them, and 1 bag for myself. I think this bag of salmon is going to last me a while.
Well I am not going to buy it again. Thanks for all your help, Nancy

Maybe you can make salmon burgers out of it? Seasonings might give it a little flavor.

This might be really old news to guys but here's what I've found:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/b ... ish16.html

I bought the Alaskan salmon (shipped from USA) and it was good enough to eat raw. It had no preservatives or colorants and had a beautiful, deep pink color. The Salmon ("product of China") was a sickly pale color with moderately degraded texture. I don't know for sure, but I suspect the only thing that can harsh both color and texture is prolonged time in the thawed state.

My opinion: don't eat farmed salmon, EVER:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21966444

kenji wrote:It's my understanding that if you buy Alaskan salmon you can only get wild. There's no farming of salmon in Alaska.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_salmon_fishery

Actually, there is. Dirks is selling farm raised (in Alaska) King Salmon for $20/lb. right now.

I'd be curious as to what Dirk's product is. My understanding from many visits to Alaska is that full farming is illegal. They do have many hatcheries, but those fish are released into the wild. One can debate what to call a hatchery raised, wild caught fish, but to my knowledge there is no such thing as an Alaskan salmon that is fully farm raised. Have their laws changed recently?

Jonah wrote:I'd be curious as to what Dirk's product is. My understanding from many visits to Alaska is that full farming is illegal. They do have many hatcheries, but those fish are released into the wild. One can debate what to call a hatchery raised, wild caught fish, but to my knowledge there is no such thing as an Alaskan salmon that is fully farm raised. Have their laws changed recently?

I just called Dirk's to verify what this product is and they told me it is farmed raised in Vancouver Island BC. It's close to Alaska, but not Alaska. My mistake.

Alaska Salmon and Canadian Salmon are processed in China, as well as Atlantic Chum. But, Salmon is caught wild in China also. Here is a link to a company called Siam Canadian that catches, processes and exports Chinese Salmon. The article mentions "Wild" Salmon caught in China. The China Salmon (Salmo Trutta Fario) is actually a Brown Trout.

"A special variety of Chinese Salmon, Salmo Trutta Fario is processed in Yadong County. This variety of Chinese Salmon is delicious in taste. China Salmon grown wild is about half to one kilogram, while those artificially cultivated can be as heavy as two to three kilograms."

http://www.siamcanadian.com/article_det ... salmon.php