Il y a plein d'articles sur le sujet dans la presse americaine et en particulier celui la interessant .
Crevette EWG in the News
Results from
tests of store-bought farmed salmon show seven of 10 fish were so contaminated with PCBs that they raise cancer risk
From EWG's report PCBs in Farmed Salmon
(printable version)
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A new study finds risks in farm-raised salmon
Journal cites toxin levels, but others say it's still a healthy choice
By: Rudy Larini
Newark Star-Ledger
January 9, 2004
Most salmon consumed by Americans are raised on farms, but a study in today's edition of the journal Science has found that the levels of cancer-causing PCBs and other organic contaminants in these fish are considerably higher than in salmon caught in the wild.
Industry representatives, health experts and officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, were quick to caution the public not to be alarmed by the findings and advised against altering consumption of farm-raised salmon.
The farmed-salmon industry has grown dramatically over the past two decades as the health benefits of eating the fish have been touted. Worldwide production has grown from only 12,000 metric tons in 1981 to more than a million tons today. Salmon farming is a $1.5 billion-a-year industry in the Americas.
Salmon is a source of high-quality protein and has a hiGH content of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been found to have a beneficial impact on cardiovascular health.
"The important thing from a public health standpoint is that salmon is a good food to eat," said Michael Gallo, a toxicologist and professor at UMDNJ/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick who has widely studied the effects of PCBs in foods.
The report comes just months after a similar study last summer by the Environmental Working Group, thouGH that research was widely criticized for using too small a sample of fish.
The study cited in Science analyzed more than 700 farmed and wild salmon and 13 samples of salmon feed, the primary culprit in the higher PCB levels in farm-nourished fish. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are cancer-causing chemicals that have been banned in the United States since 1976 but still taint the food supply.
The contamination levels in the farm-raised salmon were found to be highest in fish from Europe and lowest in those raised in North and South America, where Maine, Washington state, Canada and Chile are the primary farming areas. Ninety percent of the fresh salmon consumed in the U.S. is farm-raised, with 60 percent of it from Chile, the world's second largest producer behind Norway.
The Science study based its recommendations for salmon consumption on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for intake of contaminants without raising the risk of cancer by one in 100,000.
The study said it is safe to consume four to eight 8-ounce meals of wild salmon a month, but only one-half to one meal of farmed salmon from Europe and one-half to
three meals of farm- raised salmon from North and South America.
Those recommendations were disputed by the FDA and other health experts.
"I think, as a professor of public health, they have done a tremendous disservice to the people of the United States and the world for that matter, because they are telling people not to eat salmon and that is dead wrong," said Gallo, the UMDNJ professor.
"The FDA's advice to consumers is not to alter their consumption of farm-raised or wild salmon," said the agency's Terry Troxell.
Charles Santerre, a Purdue University professor and expert in toxicology and the safety and nutritional benefits of fish, said the study was well designed and well executed, but he took issue with its dietary recommendations.
"I think the interpretation of the data is where the failure is," Santerre said.
One of six authors of the study, which was funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, said it was not intended to recommend how much salmon the public should consume, but rather to call attention to the disparity in PCB levels between the two types of salmon and to stimulate interest in how it can be reduced.
"The hope is that the study will inform public health and regulatory agencies," said Jeffrey A. Foran of Citizens for a Better Environment, a nonprofit advocacy group in Milwaukee. "Maybe we won't have to argue about this two or three years down the road."
Alex Trent, executive director of Salmon of the Americas, a farmed salmon trade association in Princeton, said efforts are being made to reduce the PCB levels in farmed salmon by using feed made from ground fish caught in cleaner waters. He said inroads also have been made in developing a vegetable-based substitute feed.
"The industry is spending millions and millions of dollars to do that today," Trent said, adding the PCB levels in farmed salmon were reduced by 28 percent -- from an average of about 42 parts per billion to about 30 ppb between 1998 and 2001.
Critics of the study argue the EPA consumption guidelines assess risk without taking into account the health benefits of eating salmon, as the FDA standards do. The FDA tolerance level for PCBs in fish is 2,000 ppb, far higher than the 10 ppb to 60 ppb found in farm-raised salmon. No more than 10 ppb were detected in wild salmon.
The Science study is expected to receive widespread publicity, and critics fear it could dissuade consumers from eating farm- raised salmon despite its known health benefits.
"Sure that's a concern," FDA toxicologist Michael Bolger said. "We're always concerned that the public will hear a negative message -- and now they will hear a negative message about salmon -- and avoid salmon. But our analysis is this is not a public health concern."
Similar fears over the safety of farm-raised salmon arose after last summer's release of the Environmental Working Group's study on elevated PCB levels. One supermarket chain, Wegmans, posted signs advising customers that its salmon was safe, but the signs have since been removed, according to company spokeswoman Jo Natale.
"We know from the last EWG study that this scares the heck out of people," Trent said.
The study's critics point out that farm-raised salmon is available year-round, unlike wild salmon, which is caught only during summer months. It also is far more affordable, costing about $4 to $7 a pound instead of the $15 to $22 price commanded by wild salmon.
They also challenged the study's recommendations based on health issues.
"The health benefits (of eating salmon) are dramatically greater than the risks described here -- dramatically," said Santerre, the professor at Purdue.
