EFSA study: Wild and farmed fish are equal in nutrition – Fishupdate.com

EFSA study: Wild and farmed fish are equal in nutrition Published:  08 July, 2005

THE European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a report on the health risks related to the consumption of wild and farmed fish. EFSA’s

The report says that there are no consistent differences between wild and farmed fish both in terms of safety and nutritional value. Consumption of fish, and in particular fatty fish due to its richness in long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, is beneficial to cardiovascular health and also to foetal development. In general, dietary recommendations suggest weekly consumption of one to two portions of fatty fish.

The exceptions are Baltic herring and wild Baltic salmon which are 3.5 and 5 times respectively more contaminated with dioxin and dioxin-like PCBs compared to non-Baltic herring and farmed salmon.

Based on the data available, there are no consistent differences between nutrient and contamination levels of wild and farmed fish. In farmed fish, fish oil and fish meal are the most important sources of organic contaminants and possibilities for reducing contaminants levels in fish feed should be further explored.

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