Salmon is safe says US food expert

A LEADING American food safety expert last night told consumers that farmed Scottish salmon is safe to eat despite the publication of a report warning that it contains high levels of toxins.

Professor Charles Santerre, who has advised the US government on food safety, said the report had come to the wrong conclusions and concerned consumers should just take the skin off the salmon.

And he said he would have "no problem" eating Scottish salmon which he said he thought was very safe.

Santerre, from Purdue University in Indiana, said that while the research which found traces of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in samples of Scottish salmon was scientifically sound, the report had come to the wrong conclusions when it warned consumers to eat no more than two ounces a month of farmed salmon.

Santerre, the university’s Associate Professor of Foods and Nutrition and an expert in the detection of PCBs, said the researchers should have checked the toxin levels against official food safety guidelines.

He said: "The study came to the wrong conclusions because they did not compare the levels of the toxins found to the safety levels recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or the [US] Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Yes, there are tiny amounts of toxins but they are well within the food safety levels, which are already very strict.

"They also failed to balance the risk from the toxins with the risks of removing salmon from your diet, which are much greater in terms of dangers to the heart and removal of a source of protein."

Last week a report by a team of North American academics claimed that farmed salmon from Scotland and the Faroe Islands contained high levels of PCBs, compared with wild salmon or farmed fish from other countries.

Nutritionists believe that a healthy diet should include at least one portion of ‘oily’ fish, such as salmon, herring or mackerel, each week as the oils are believed to be beneficial.

Santerre said: "In the United States we reckon that we could save 100,000 lives a year from heart illnesses if we got more people to eat salmon in their diet. That far outweighs any risks from toxins."

Santerre suggested that very cautious consumers might remove the skin from the fish because most of the toxins are found in or near the skin. He said: "I don’t think it’s necessary but people might want to do it. I believe that your Scottish salmon is very safe and I would not have a problem eating it."

However, environmentalists have called on Scotland’s 300m salmon farming industry to clean up its act.