COOL Labeling: Helping Us Make Healthy Salmon Choices?

Look no further than your local grocer for evidence that the salmon craze continues. Rows of rosy-pink filets are being snapped up by consumers seeking healthy omega-3 fats and delicious fish. But the rise of farmed salmon in markets has cast doubts over such claims, with mounting concerns about contamination from PCBs, water pollution from fish wastes, genetic mixing of farmed with wild fish, and spread of disease . The trouble is that some salmon products aren't so clean and green anymore, and it's getting hard to tell the difference.

A recent New York Times study shows how complicated the situation has become. The study, conducted in eight New York City markets, found that six of the eight sold salmon advertised as wild which were in fact farm-raised, implicating even the health food giant Whole Foods . The finding doesn't bode well for consumers concerned not only with health, but also the environmental effects of salmon farming.

Enter Country of Origin Labeling, or "COOL," which as of April 2005 requires seafood sold in grocery stores to carry labels identifying its country of origin, and whether it's farmed or wild . While the rules don't cover seafood sold in restaurants or speciality fish markets, environmentalists and consumer advocates hailed them to help shoppers make more informed decisions. But can such labels really lead to healthier, greener consumer choices?

Yes and no. Global studies of PCB and other contaminants in farmed salmon show that country of origin does matter. Contaminants, particularly PCBs, typically originate from fish oils found in fish feed. Farmed salmon raised in Europe have significantly higher PCB, dioxin, toxaphene, and dieldrin levels than those from farms in Chile, Canada, and the U.S. But the studies also show that farmed salmon in general have significantly higher PCB levels than wild salmon, regardless of origin.

Scientists also warn that focusing only on the health effects of contaminants neglects the larger environmental impacts of salmon farming. "Just because contaminant levels are low doesn't mean that a farm protects water quality, avoids antibiotics, and minimizes escapement into the wild" says George Leonard, Ph. D, Science Manager for the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program . These are problems with fish farms around the world, regardless of country, according to Leonard.