Health: Trouble On The Salmon Farm

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Dripping with clot-busting omega-3 fatty acids, salmon flesh has become a staple of heart-healthy diets. Most of the salmon we eat, however, comes not from the open sea but from salmon farms, and that could be a problem, according to a new study in Science. Using a random sample of 700 salmon (about two tons' worth), researchers found that farm-bred fish contained significantly more PCBs, dioxins and other contaminants--some of them known or suspected carcinogens--than wild salmon. Of the fish tested, farmed salmon from Scotland and the Faroe Islands were the most contaminated. Fish raised in Washington State and Chile, where the U.S. gets much of its supply, were less so. According to the FDA, you don't have to worry about eating salmon, as its cardiovascular benefits almost certainly outweigh the cancer risks. The study's authors disagree. To be safe, they say, you shouldn't eat farmed salmon more than once a month. --By Sora Song