Salmon Not Organic
Three cheers for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Standards Board, which recently voted to temporarily exclude farmed salmon from being granted the coveted USDA "organic" food label.
Americans are keen on organic foods, because they often are more healthful and better for the environment. And consumers pay a pretty price for foods that receive the USDA's stamp of organic approval. The Associated Press reported in December that organic food sales have grown 15 percent to 21 percent in recent years, compared with 2 percent to 4 percent growth in all food sales.
But there has been something fishy going on with salmon.
Salmon labeled "organic" have popped up in stores, even though the USDA has not declared it organic. This is possible because the fish comes from other countries that label it organic, despite concerns that it is anything but.
The USDA should go a step further and ban the sale of imported "organic" farmed salmon. The label just doesn't mean what consumers here have come to expect of organic foods.
Excluding salmon from "organic" labeling, even those raised in open-net cages and farmed fish that eat wild fish feed, is important for two reasons:
It's hard -- i.e., next to impossible -- to control what fish eat in the ocean. And even farmed salmon can be exposed to contaminated water or feed. Critics contend that some fish farms pollute water and deplete other fish populations, exposing all of us who eat seafood to even higher levels of toxins. Granting farmed salmon an "organic" label could lead to increased sales of farmed fish even if and when fish farms are detrimental.
Consumers should not be duped into buying a fish that isn't organic in the way that other foods are considered organic. People who buy salmon labeled "organic" right now need to know that the label is based on another country's say-so, not the United States' strict standards.
When the organic standards board visits the issue in six months, it should be prepared to make its ruling permanent. Consumers have a right to know information about what they are eating. And unless every external factor is controlled when it comes to salmon, that knowledge simply isn't available.