Don't jeopardise health by cutting out salmon respected US scientists direct vehement criticism at flawed salmon study

As the Food Standards Agency has reiterated throughout the day, UK consumers should not
forsake the health benefits of Scottish salmon on the basis of a flawed US study, published this week in Science magazine.

In reaching their conclusions about limiting salmon consumption, the study’s authors seem to have misapplied an already suspect risk model developed by the US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). According to the FSA, the EPA process “is not recognised by international
organisations responsible for food safety and public health who consider it scientifically flawed”
(http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/dioxinspcb). Significantly, the study failed to include any analysis of the health benefits of eating salmon, despite over 5,000 scientific papers attesting to the health benefits of oil-rich fish.

A roster of leading American scientists has lined up to criticise the conclusions of the newly published Science magazine study on contaminants in salmon.

According to news website Intrafish: Dr Mike Gallo [a specialist in toxicology at the Department of Environmental and Community Medicine, Rutgers University] commented that while the study was comprehensive in its approach, its conclusions were faulty.

“PCBs are in all salmon. The difference between 5 ppb [parts per billion] and 30 ppb is meaningless. If you use the EPA's mathematical model…there is no difference.”

Gallo noted that it was inappropriate for the scientists to discount the US Food and Drug Administration’s guidance on contaminants in fish. “The FDA has never issued a public health advisory on farmed salmon and yesterday reiterated its position that the product is safe to several news outlets.

“As a professor of public health, I would never tell anyone to limit their intake of salmon,” Gallo said.

Meanwhile, Eric Rimm of the Harvard School of Public Health, a specialist on nutrition and chronic disease, said the study "will likely over-alarm people in this country. To alarm people away from fish because of some potential, at this point undocumented, risk of long-term cancer - that does worry me."

Phil Guzelian, Professor of Medicine and Head, Section of Medical Toxicology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center said: “The report is largely a confirmation of previously accumulated knowledge regarding trace amounts of chlorinated chemicals detectable in fish, in this case, in salmon. The data show quite convincingly, as has been known for some time, that regardless of whether the salmon are farm bred or caught wild, the amounts of these chemicals are small indeed, being about 100 times lower than the safe amounts recommended by the US FDA's health-based risk assessments.

“In view of the lack of an evidence-based determination that these chlorinated chemicals at such low doses are toxic to humans at all, the report provides reassurance to the public to consider, without misgivings, the reported health benefits of including salmon in the diet.”

Dr. Stephen Safe, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Environmental and Genetic Medicine, Institute of Bioscience & Technology, Texas A&M, commented: “The study looks at farmed and not farmed (wild). The results of this study are not that much different from what was done before. However, it is interesting to note that farmed salmon levels are much lower now than what was published previously. So number one: this is good news. Levels are going down. Secondly, in terms of all the calculations, all levels are well below FDA established levels. So I wonder what the problem is? Particularly when weighted against the high nutritional value of farmed salmon?”

Charles Santerre, Ph.D, Associate Professor, Foods and Nutrition at Purdue University and a consultant to the salmon farming industry in the US, stated: “I think it's unconscionable to direct pregnant women away from farmed salmon. Omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon are important for brain development, and there's preliminary evidence that they reduce the risk of preterm births and slightly increase a child's cognitive abilities.

“The PCB levels in farmed salmon are all below the level determined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be safe for sale in supermarkets. That cut-off is 40 times higher than what EPA has determined is safe in recreationally caught fish, in part because FDA considers safety and nutrition whereas EPA looks solely at risks.

"The study shows that the cancer risk from eating large amounts of salmon is significantly lower than the risk of developing heart disease from not eating generous amounts of the fish. Consumers should be encouraged to increase their intake of fish, including 8 ounces of farmed salmon every week.”

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