When you pick up your favorite salmon or trout at your local food store, color is one of your purchasing criteria. This incredible pink color is the symbol of salmon and trout, and very few fish in nature have this amazing capacity to store these nutrients called carotenoids in their bodies.

Carotenoids are natural compounds essential for fish health and are involved in immunity, vision, and reproduction. But how can you be SURE this vibrant color is really natural?

Most consumers honestly believe salmon color comes from natural feedstuffs farmed fish found in their diet. Unfortunately, in many cases, this color is a synthetic color dye derived from the crude oil industry.

In the US, all color additives added to salmon, whether natural or artificial, are registered the same way, and fish should be declared as “color added.”

Here are some tips to help you buy your salmon or trout with an authentic and natural color:

• First, ask your local fishmonger. Some of them know the farming practices well and may help you.
• Buy an organic salmon! Organic rules fully ban the use of any synthetic additives, such as synthetic pigment.
• Pick up the salmon from Scotland like Loch Duart and Wester Ross! The Scottish farmers have long understood what quality and transparency mean for customers.
• Go for the Icelandic salmon, which is 100% natural with no synthetic color.
• Open your eyes to the salmon from Norway, Chile, or Canada. Look at the premium salmon farms such as KVAROY Arctic, VÅRLAKS, or Creative Salmon.
• In the US, choose RIVERENCE, a pioneer in trout farming and quality commitments.
• Select local farms such as Superior Fresh.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.