The Associated Press reports that Kroger, Safeway and Albertsons all are being sued by a Seattle law firm that maintains that the chains ought to tell consumers that the farm-raised salmon they sell has been dyed pink.
“Pink sells salmon,” lawyer Paul Kampmeier told the AP. “To artificially color salmon without giving that information to consumers, we believe that's unfair and deceptive, and it's also against federal law.”
According to the AP, wild salmon is pink because of what it eats. Farmed salmon has naturally grayish flesh.
The British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association said the pigments added to farmed fish food are synthetic versions of what naturally occurs in nature, and compared it to taking a Vitamin C pill instead of eating an orange.
The trade group and the supermarket chains all say that they are complying with federal, state, and local regulations, and that the salmon they are selling is safe.
The law firm filing suit is seeking class action status. While salmon farms make it possible for consumers to get quality, inexpensive salmon year-round, they are sometimes criticized for being environmentally unsound and producing an inferior product.
“Pink sells salmon,” lawyer Paul Kampmeier told the AP. “To artificially color salmon without giving that information to consumers, we believe that's unfair and deceptive, and it's also against federal law.”
According to the AP, wild salmon is pink because of what it eats. Farmed salmon has naturally grayish flesh.
The British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association said the pigments added to farmed fish food are synthetic versions of what naturally occurs in nature, and compared it to taking a Vitamin C pill instead of eating an orange.
The trade group and the supermarket chains all say that they are complying with federal, state, and local regulations, and that the salmon they are selling is safe.
The law firm filing suit is seeking class action status. While salmon farms make it possible for consumers to get quality, inexpensive salmon year-round, they are sometimes criticized for being environmentally unsound and producing an inferior product.
- KC's View:
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Funny, but we’ve never paid attention to whether the salmon we buy in the store or in restaurants is farm-raised or wild -- we’re not even sure that the signs say. (They probably do; we just haven’t paid attention.)
But next time we will, and maybe even do a little taste test to see if we can tell the difference.
As for the coloring, we have no idea if it makes a difference in taste or safety, but we sure know that gray salmon doesn’t seem nearly as attractive a dish…
