Many things are said about farmed fish, that if it becomes more fat, that if it is less nutritious, that more diseases can occur … To clear up any doubts, we have spoken with one of the scientists in our country who gets the most wet on issues of nutrition, JM Mulet, who just published What is healthy eating? (Ed. Destino), a book in which he unravels many myths around food.
The first thing it tells us is that farmed fish need not be less nutritious than wild fish, "it should be analyzed case by case, but in general the nutritional properties are similar. We keep proposing myths to him, and this is what he answered us.
Myth: You get fatter because you eat flour
MULET SAYS: No, absolutely. Is eating a chicken breast fillet to binge on carbohydrates? Chicken is fed corn, which is very high in carbohydrates, and instead, a chicken breast is basically protein. The same goes for fish, which is a food rich in protein. But there is no difference in carbohydrate content between a farmed fish and a wild one.
Myth: You get fatter because you don't swim and your fat is worse
MULET SAYS: I deny the major. Fish breathe through gills, and to filter the water for oxygen, they need to swim. Farmed fish are not in individual cages like chickens, but in huge pools. In fact, many farms are offshore in confined space fences within the sea.
Myth: You get fatter because you are "bloated" with hormones
MULET SAYS: You don't get fatter anymore. And furthermore, hormones have been banned as growth promoters in Europe for a long time.
Myth: It's bad for your health because they add dyes
MULET SAYS: It's not bad for your health. Colorings are only used in salmon, what is the use of a sea bream? But sometimes it's as easy as changing his diet. In any case, nothing that is used is toxic. Something similar happens with chicken. Calendula or carotenoids are added to the feed so that the meat turns yellow.
Myth: Antibiotics are bad for your health
MULET SAYS: It's not bad for your health. Antibiotics to promote growth are banned in Europe. They can only be used in case you suffer from some kind of disease or health problem. And in that case they must pass a quarantine before they can be marketed.
Myth: It's bad, eat leftover fish with mercury
MULET SAYS: Mercury can only appear in large predators (sharks, tuna, and emperor), which are not farmed. Tuna cannot be bred in captivity, but what is done is to capture it in the wild, confine it in a trap and fatten it. And yet the levels that appear in Emperor and Tuna are below the level of danger.
Myth: It has more anisakis
MULET SAYS: in Spain anisakis have never been found in a fish farm. As their breeding is controlled, the appearance of parasites is monitored (it is one of the routine analyzes), something that cannot be done with extractive fishing.
- Take note: it is recommended to freeze the fish from fishing (in restaurants it is mandatory) and not the fish farm, precisely because the first does not go through these sanitary controls.
European food standards are very strict
What if they are not raised in Europe?
Mulet says that the laws on food are very "restrictive because they depend on the European Parliament. And in Europe, we are very picky about these issues." But what if it matters?
- Fish farms "from outside"
What if the fish is raised in places where the laws are not as strict as in the EU? Mulet assures that "all food that enters Europe is obliged to meet the same quality requirements as that produced here. Every year the agency in charge of border inspections (RASFF) publishes a report of withdrawn consignments, and usually farmed fish is not the most problematic. "
- The case of the panga
This fish is said to be more contaminated from being raised in Vietnam. Mulet says: "The impact and contamination of a fish farm in Vietnam is quite high. However, the pangasius that reaches Europe has to pass very strict sanitary controls."
