Q. What is your opinion about wild caught salmon from China? Is it safe?
It costs so much less than the wild caught salmon from the US..
A. Actually, the wild-caught salmon you're seeing was most likely harvested in the Pacific Northwest or Alaska and shipped to China for processing. Because labor costs are so much lower in China, fish suppliers can actually ship their salmon to China and back and still sell it to you cheaper than if it had been processed in the U.S.
I'll leave you to consider the environmental impact of that 8,000 mile round trip. You might also want to take into account that the fish spends at least two months in transit, so it's not exactly the "catch of the day" if you know what I mean.
See also:
Self's Green Living Guide
But back to your question: Is it safe?
Theoretically, the safety of fish being sold in U.S. markets is
monitored by federal agencies such as the FDA, whose job it is to be
sure that the fish sold for human consumption in the U.S is "safe,
wholesome, and not mis-branded or deceptively packaged." (
Institute of Medicine on Seafood Safety)
But as we've seen lately, the ability of the FDA to effectively
police the food supply and enforce its regulations is in serious doubt.
Just a few years ago, for example, there was a scandal in which salmon
being sold for a premium as "wild-caught" in both wholesale and retail
markets turned out to be cheap farmed salmon. (
Story from New York Times) And, frankly, China doesn't exactly have a pristine record in terms of safe food processing.
In other words, if everyone is playing by the rules and doing their jobs competently (two rather large "ifs") and you don't mind the carbon foot-print, the cheap wild-caught should be safe. Tell me what you decide to do!
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It's true: Certain fruits and vegetables act as sunscreen from within. Researchers found that women whose diets provided 16 milligrams of lycopene every day were protected from the damaging effects of UV-rays, including reddening of the skin and cellular damage. And lycopene is no one-trick pony: It's also been found to help ward off heart disease and osteoporosis.
Skin Saving Superfoods
Lycopene is found in watermelon, guava, and tomatoes. Cooked tomato products like salsa, tomato juice, and spaghetti sauce are especially good sources. You can get a skin-saving dose of lycopene from:
- 1/3 tomato puree
- 1/2 cup salsa or marinara sauce
- 6 ounces of V-8
- 2 cups watermelon balls
Make sure to eat some of these skin-loving foods every day! For more foods that keep your skin healthy and glowing, check out SELF's Food Lovers Guide to Great Skin
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Q. I recently read that products such as veggie burgers and power bars contain hexane, which is a neurotoxin. Are the levels high enough to cause concern? Should I steer clear of these soy products?
A. Although it's made headlines recently, the use of hexane in food processing is nothing new--and
certainly not unique to soy-based foods. Hexane is a solvent that is widely used in food processing to extract oil from vegetables and nuts. Although manufacturers take steps to prevent any hexane from ending up in the finished product, it's possible for trace amounts to remain.
Cause for concern but not panic
Hexane gas is indeed highly toxic. Breathing hexane fumes can cause
nerve damage. Industrial use of hexane contributes to air pollution and
is potentially hazardous to workers who work with it. But there is a big
difference between breathing hexane fumes and ingesting trace amounts.
The amounts that were recently found in some soy products were tiny
(well within allowable limits) and despite decades of use in food
production, no adverse effects from hexane have been ever reported.
I'm not saying hexane is harmless or that we shouldn't be concerned.
But I think the media reaction has been out of proportion. For a concerned but less
hysterical response to this issue, see Eric Michael Johnson's post on his Primate Diaries blog.
If you're still concerned about hexane in veggie burgers, you could always make your own! Here are some recipes to try. See also this article for a a list of processed soy foods made without hexane.
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