Healthy Brain Food Now Linked to
Autism, ADHD and Reduced IQ
This 8,000 subject study
discloses unsettling news about a food staple that's highly recommended
for its brain and heart benefits... The commonly eaten form was found to
contain so many toxic contaminants, this government agency was forced to
issue warnings about its consumption.
Norway Issues Warnings About Health Dangers of Farmed Salmon
July 09, 2013
Story at-a-glance
A Norwegian researcher has raised serious concerns about
high levels of contaminants in farm-raised salmon
She claims the type of contaminants detected in farmed
salmon have a negative effect on brain development and is
associated with autism, ADD / ADHD and reduced IQ. They can
also affect your immune system and metabolism
The Norwegian Health Department has issued new official
recommendations to women of childbearing age or who are
pregnant, suggesting they limit farmed salmon to a maximum
of two meals per week due to potential toxicity
Four major grocery chains in Norway are threatening to ban
farmed salmon from their stores unless the farmed salmon
industry agrees to change their production to closed pens
and guarantees that the fish are safe to eat
By Dr. Mercola
Environmental experts
have warned about the unsustainability of fish farms for over a
decade, yet nothing has been done to address such concerns. This
is an important issue for me as I consume most of my protein as
salmon. I purchase mine from
Vital
Choice, which is certified wild caught from Alaska.
Most people don't realize seafood labeled as 'Alaskan' cannot be
farmed. Alaska is incredible at protecting their brand when it
comes to seafood, and do an excellent job to ensure quality and
sustainability. If you don't see the 'Alaska' label or a logo
from the Marine Stewardship Council - the seafood you are buying
is likely farmed.
Instead of addressing these issues, government agencies and
environmental organizations around the world have consistently
chosen to ignore predictions of disaster, both to the
environment and human health, to protect instead the
profitability of this burgeoning industry.
Biologist Alexandra Morton, featured in the documentary film
Salmon Confidential, has posted a number of recent
developments with regards to farmed salmon and human health on
her blog.1
During the first two weeks of June, reports of farmed salmon
toxicity spread through Norwegian news, and on June 16, the
Norwegian Health Department actually went on the record warning
against eating too much farmed salmon:2
"We have reviewed the Scientific Committee report
again and looked at the recommendations that were there and
how this was discussed in the report of the National
Nutrition Council in 2011.
There, they discussed all research related to
toxicology and health effects thoroughly, and we have based
our evaluations on their report. They did not provide this
clarification. Now we see that there is a need for
clarifications to pregnant women and young women."
The new, official recommendation to Norwegian women of
childbearing age or who are pregnant is to limit consumption of
fatty fish such as salmon to a maximum of two such meals per
week.
Farmed Salmon—An Environmental and Nutritional Nightmare
Alexandra Morton was one of the first biologists to discover
that wild salmon in British Columbia were testing positive for
dangerous European salmon viruses associated with salmon farming
worldwide—a finding that the Canadian government has since
fought to suppress.
The revelations of health hazards discussed in the Norwegian
media came as a surprise even to her, seeing how Norway is the
“motherland” of salmon farming; the entire industry originating
from Norsk Hydro, which is the country’s largest public company.
“The salmon feedlot industry in British Columbia is
98 percent Norwegian-owned, and one of the companies is
largely owned by the Norwegian government itself, Cermaq,”
Morton explains.
On June 19, media reports stated that "Russia fears that
Norwegian salmon is unsafe and is critical of Norwegian food
security."
And the Norwegian National TV2’s website recently reported that
the country’s four major grocery chains are threatening to ban
farmed salmon from their stores unless the farmed salmon
industry agrees to “change their production to closed pens and
guarantees that the fish are safe to eat.” According to TV2:
“Norwegians spend 130 Billions [Norwegian] kroners
each year on food. Four big food chain stores: Rema 1000,
ICA. Norgesgruppen and Coop, more or less control most of
the food retail market. According to ICA’s managing
director, it gives them the power to make demands to their
suppliers for ICA in Norway, Sweden, and The Netherlands...
ICA demands that the salmon farming industry becomes
environmentally sustainable within three years. Prototypes
of closed, recirculated fish farms have been developed, but
the fish farming industry has shown very little interest in
investing in these.”
In response to these threats, the Environmental Association
in Bergen, which is leading the campaign for sustainable fish
farming, received a letter from a law firm hired by the national
fish farming industry (FHL), threatening to sue the organization
for urging the food chains to stop selling farmed fish...
Why Farmed Salmon May Be Hazardous to Your Health
As explained by Morton in the video above, Dr. Anne-Lise
Birch Monsen at the University of Bergen, Norway, has raised
serious concerns about high levels of contaminants in
farm-raised salmon. The contaminants in question originate in
wild salmon, courtesy of environmental pollution. These toxic
contaminants bind to the fat molecules in wild fish, and when
these fish are ground up for use in fish meal together with
added high-fat fish oils, these molecules can enter your body
where they bind to your cells.
While this can certainly cause health problems for you, it
can also pose a very serious threat to the health of your unborn
children. As explained by Morton, when you give birth, your body
dumps up to 90 percent of the accumulated toxins in your body
into the body of your first-born child. More toxins are later
expelled through your breast milk. This is why it’s so critical
to avoid toxic exposures throughout childhood and early
adulthood, to prevent damage to future generations as
well as your own life cycle...
"I do not recommend pregnant women, children or young
people eat farmed salmon. It is uncertain in both the amount
of toxins salmon contain, and how these drugs affect
children, adolescents and pregnant women... The type of
contaminants that have been detected in farmed salmon have a
negative effect on brain development and is associated with
autism, ADD / ADHD and reduced IQ. We also know that they
can affect other organ systems in the body's immune system
and metabolism."
As reported by Alexandra Morton, a large European study
involving about 8,000 newborns found that pregnant women with
high levels of toxins in their bodies tend to give birth to
children with lower birth weight, which in and of itself may
have an adverse on the child’s health.
Omega-3 Levels in Farmed Salmon Is Nearly Half of That in Wild
Salmon
Another Norwegian article reveals that levels of critical
omega-3 fats have been reduced by about 50 percent in farmed
salmon, compared to wild salmon, due to increasing amounts of
grain feed. One article4
refers to farmed salmon as “swimming corncobs.” Furthermore:
"[T]he Norwegian food production’s four Norwegian
feed producers now have an exemption to use 19 different
genetically modified ingredients in their feed. Genetic
modification (GM) is very controversial, and completely
excluded in Norwegian agriculture," the article states.
The following chart from the Pure Salmon Campaign’s website,5
reveals the nutritional differences between farmed and wild
salmon, according to USDA data. While farmed salmon is much
fattier than wild salmon, it contains FAR LESS healthful omega-3
fats, and less protein.
Norway Lobbied to Raise Allowable Toxin Levels in Salmon Feed...
In 2006, Russia banned Norwegian farmed salmon, claiming it
contained excessive amounts of lead and cadmium (originating
from the feed). The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (FSA)
rejected the accusations, but Dr. Claudette Bethune, a
researcher at the National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood
Research (NIFES) spoke out6
saying that “given the amount of research, there is no way
Norway can be so sure its salmon is completely safe.” She also
told the media that the FSA’s recommendations on how much salmon
is safe to eat actually exceeded the level set by the World
Health Organization (WHO) for poison ingestion.
Despite that, and in the midst of all these rising concerns
over the past several years, a June 17 story in the Norwegian
media7
revealed that Norway lobbied the EU to raise the permissible
level of toxins in salmon feed, which has now been granted. A
translation reads:
"After yesterday’s debate on the danger of eating
farmed salmon due to high levels harmful pollutants, it was
revealed Norwegian authorities have lobbied in EU to allow
more toxin level in salmon. According to Aftenposten’s
report, Norway has for years tried to get the EU to allow 10
times more toxin [Endosulfan—a bioaccumulative toxin] in
salmon than previously allowed. Now, Norway has received
approval in the EU.
The consultation document from the FSA shows that
there are economic reasons why Norway is eager to raise the
limit.'The limit value for the concentration of endosulfan
in feed for salmonids is of great economic importance for
the aquaculture industry in the short and longer term,'
stated the letter. Endosulfan was previously forbidden to
use in feed for all salmonids, but research has shown that
fish can withstand poison through better feed than by being
exposed to it in the water."
As explained by Morton, Endosulfan is a toxic pesticide known
to attack the nervous system, and can increase the risk of
autism and cause birth defects to the male human reproductive
system. Further complicating the situation and raising new
questions about safety is the fact that, in April of this year,
the EU also made it official that pigs and chickens can be used
in farmed salmon feed! Since when do salmon eat a diet of
grains, pork and poultry? Just what kind of fish do you end up
with when they’re given this kind of diet?
Farmed Fish Pose a Number of Health Hazards to Your Health
It’s important to realize that farm raised fish of ALL
species can spell disaster for your health in a number of ways.
Just like you need an optimal diet to be healthy, all other
animals need their optimal diet as well. And fish were never
meant to eat corn, grains, or poultry and pork for that matter.
In addition to this unnatural diet, farmed fish of all species
are also given a concoction of vitamins, antibiotics, and
depending on the fish, synthetic pigments to make up for the
lack of natural flesh coloration due to the altered diet.
Without it, the flesh of caged salmon, for example, would be an
unappetizing, pale gray. The fish are also fed pesticides, along
with compounds such as toxic copper sulfate, which is frequently
used to keep nets free of algae.
Not only do you ingest these drugs and chemicals when you eat
the fish, but these toxins also build up in sea-floor sediments.
In this way, industrial fish farming raises many of the same
environmental concerns about chemicals and pollutants that are
associated with feedlot cattle and factory chicken farms. In
addition, fish waste and uneaten feed further litter the sea
floor beneath these farms, generating bacteria that consume
oxygen vital to shellfish and other bottom-dwelling sea
creatures.
Studies have also consistently found levels of PCBs, dioxins,
toxaphene and dieldrin, as well as mercury, to be higher in
farm-raised fish than wild fish. The reason for this, as
discussed above, is because wild fish are caught and ground up
into fish meal to be fed to the farmed fish, which concentrates
any contamination found in each individual wild fish... Sadly,
even wild-caught fish have already reached such toxic levels
that it's impossible to recommend eating them with a clear
conscience anymore.
For example, according to a
US Geological Survey study, mercury contamination was
detected in EVERY fish sampled in nearly 300 streams across the
United States. More than a quarter of these fish contained
mercury at levels exceeding the EPA criterion for the protection
of human health. So, when you consider the fact that factory
farmed fish typically are even MORE toxic than wild-caught fish
and also contain an assortment of antibiotics and pesticides,
avoiding them becomes a no-brainer – at least if you're
concerned about your health.
To learn more about the differences between farmed salmon and
wild salmon, specifically, please see my interview with
Randy Hartnell, founder-president of Vital Choice Wild
Seafood and Organics. I'm a huge fan of their wild sockeye
salmon, and beside a fish dinner at a restaurant here or there,
Vital Choice salmon is about the only type of fish I eat. Wild
Alaskan salmon from
Vital
Choice is well over 75 percent of my current choice of
protein when I’m not travelling.
Buying Local Increases Food Safety and Food Security
Morton recommends buying local foods and wild fish. I
couldn’t agree more. It’s worth keeping in mind that disease in
farm animals is one of the primary sources of epidemics
in humans. Therefore, the health of food animals is really
paramount. Fish farms are the aquatic version of a confined
animal feeding operation (CAFO), and just like their land-based
cattle and chicken farms, aquatic CAFOs are a breeding ground
for disease and toxic waste, and produce food animals of
inferior quality.
Due to the dramatically increased disease risk—a natural side
effect of crowding—these animals are further contaminated with
drugs, and in the case of salmon, synthetic
astaxanthin, which is made from petrochemicals that are not
approved for human consumption as it has well-documented
toxicities.
The industry will tell you the world needs inexpensive food,
and inevitably, they insist that such foods can only be created
using the latest technology and artificial means. The latest
example of this craziness is the creation of what amounts to a
vegetarian fish diet designed for carnivorous fish.8
Instead of fishmeal, the protein in this feed comes from
bacteria, yeast or algae instead. This way, fish farms will not
need to use valuable wild fish to feed farmed fish, and this,
they claim, will help alleviate world hunger... Nevermind the
fact that by altering a fish’s diet in such a drastic way,
you’re undoubtedly altering its nutritional content as well.
At present, industry profits are being prioritized over the
health of the people and unborn children, and cheap foods are
being produced at the expense of our environment and,
potentially, the very lives of our descendants. The
ramifications of our large-scale, mass-producing,
chemical-dependent food system are incredibly vast, which is why
I urge you to become more curious about your food. Where and how
was it raised, grown, or manufactured? These things do matter;
for your health, and the health and future of our planet.