More 'bad food news' goes down easy for consumers

Word that salmon, ubiquitous and palatable, has joined the lengthening list of suspect foods -- right after disease-prone cows and mercury-laden tuna -- resounded like a gong with fish consumers yesterday.

In the last three weeks they have digested news that hamburgers may cause a potentially fatal disease and canned tuna is replete with neurologically damaging mercury. Now, according to a study released yesterday, the popular fish appears to be loaded with cancer-linked PCBs.


		Scott Eklund / P-I
	Wild salmon is not free of health risks but is considered safer than farm-raised versions, according to a new study in the journal Science.

But instead of freezing in fear, many shoppers say they are hardly surprised.

"I think it's a wake-up call," said Naomi Hunder, an oncology fellow at the University of Washington, meeting a friend in the Whole Foods parking lot. "You can't just keep polluting the Earth and not expect anything to happen."

Like Hunder, other customers of the gourmet supermarket interpreted yesterday's news as more evidence of environmental degradation.

"Who was it that wrote 'The Jungle?' " asked Chris Freas, a glass recycler, referring to the 1906 work by Upton Sinclair that exposed Chicago's gruesome meat-packing industry. "Apparently, things haven't changed that much. I'm going to start eating more tofu."

The study, "Global Assessment of Organic Contaminants in Farmed Salmon," published today in the journal Science, concludes that cultivated salmon, particularly Atlantic stocks, are so loaded with contaminants -- primarily from the feed they consume -- that their risk detracts from the long-touted benefits of consuming fish.

Wild salmon were not immune, but the study's authors rated them far safer. Based on their findings, the scientists suggested eating farm-raised salmon only once a month, and wild fish up to twice a week, depending on the waters where they were caught.

"Wild tastes better anyway, and it's better for the environment," said Chris Chesnutt, a computer consultant who had just purchased a bit of fresh ostrich at Whole Foods. "I'm not sick of all the food warnings, but mercury in salmon? You've got to take that with a grain of salt."

His attitude was what Brian Wansink, a University of Illinois professor who researches food psychology, would call "accountable."

"These are the people who say, 'Big deal, I'm going to be accountable for my own actions and I'm basically going to do what I want -- fie on whatever anybody else does," said Wansink. "In most of the United States that's probably what dominates."

American consumers, in Wansink's estimation, fall into four groups: the "alarmists," who dramatically change their food habits based on news of the day; the "concerned," who worry about food warnings but eat so little of the product in question they perceive little threat; the "accountables," like Chesnutt; and the "conservatives" who consider the level of risk so low as to be negligible.

"Essentially, we've become accustomed to news like this," Wansink said. "I'm in the middle of beef land right now and nobody's reacted to (mad cow disease) here. It's got to be a whole lot more than one study like this salmon report to really register on our radar screens today."

Jon Rowley, a marketing consultant for restaurants and food retailers around the country -- and a former salmon fisherman -- pointed out that many of Seattle's most popular fish restaurants, such as Ray's Boathouse and Anthony's Homeport, have long eschewed farm-raised salmon for both gastronomic and environmental reasons.

Still, customers probably will begin asking questions, Rowley said, and it is the restaurants' duty to make sure they get all available information about an eatery's suppliers.

Years ago, oysters underwent similar scrutiny, he said.

But what began as a cause of potential hysteria became an opportunity for local oyster growers to learn more about their stocks and inform consumers about the facts -- in this case, that the disease was isolated in shellfish from warm southern waters.

What might have decimated local farmers thus became an opportunity for self-promotion.

"It's the same thing now with mad cow and wild salmon," Rowley said. "There's suddenly all this interest in organic beef and restaurants have an opportunity to promote themselves that way."

At Ray's Boathouse, executive sous chef Peter Birk was philosophical about the entire matter.

"It's a crazy world out there right now with food," he said. "All you can do is rely on your reputation."

ADVICE TO CONSUMERS

Keep eating fish, nutritionists say. To get the heart-healthy benefits salmon provides without elevated levels of PCBs and pesticides, consider sardines or mackerel, which are particularly high in omega-3 fatty acids. (But avoid king mackerel, as it has high levels of mercury.) Many other forms of seafood provide circulatory system benefits.

While yesterday's report focused on risks from PCBs and pesticides in salmon, health experts say consumers should also be aware of risks from mercury in fish. This is particularly important for "sensitive" populations: young children, pregnant women, nursing women and women who might become pregnant. For those people, nutritionists recommend the limits listed below.

PREGNANT AND NURSING MOTHERS: If you do not regularly eat fish, ask your doctor about taking an omega-3 fatty acid supplement. Preliminary evidence suggests these help children's brain development.
OTHER PEOPLE: For middle-aged or older men and women, it may be wiser to eat fish more often because of the benefits they provide to the circulatory system.
COOKING TIPS: When you do eat salmon, don't fry it. Bake it, broil it, barbecue it or find another way that allows the fat to drip off. Either before or after you cook the fish, remove the skin, which contains the most pollutants.

P-I reporter Claudia Rowe can be reached at 206-448-8320 or claudiarowe@seattlepi.com

Add P-I Local headlines to