# I learned that salmon is dyed--disgusting--plus other fake food travesties that horrify you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2012, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229 "2012-06-25T09:42:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/81 "2012-06-26T02:06:57Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > No, whether farmed salmon hurt wild salmon doesn’t depend on that. You seem to mean whether we should tolerate them or not. > > Worldwide, wild fish are a huge food resource. Farms can never replace them. Salmon is a luxury fish - nobody’s going to starve without farmed fish. Salmon fishermen might though. Yes, but farmed salmon relieve pressure on wild populations, many of which are not doing well. Many farmed fish are on the MBA Fish watch list: [http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr\_seafoodwatch/download.aspx](http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx) It’s true that Farmed salmon are on the “avoid” list, but many other farmed fish are on the “best Choices” list. Note that only Alaskan Wild salmon makes the “best choices” list. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/82 "2012-06-26T02:11:08Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Hugely debated. It all depends on how many wild salmon there are, and how many mouths to feed, eh? > > In any case, Cracked is cracked here. Farm raised salmon get their color from their diet, just like wild salmon do, it’s just that their diet is especially formulated to make the flesh more red. No big deal. My ignorance has been fought. I thought that the fish were dipped in dye or something. I am less bothered about this now. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/83 "2012-06-26T02:12:54Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Technically speaking you mean salmon farmers 🙂 No, I meant the wild fishermen. They suffer from degradation of wild salmon by farms. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/84 "2012-06-26T02:33:28Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > And what’s wrong with cinnamon? Nothing’s actually “wrong” with it. It’s just that the vast majority of what we call “cinnamon” isn’t actually cinnamon proper, it’s [cassia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamomum_aromaticum). Ceylon cinnamon is [**true** cinnamon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon), _Cinnamomum verum_. They have very different flavors, and there’s nothing wrong with cassia, but it’s not the historically “real” stuff. It’s kind of like selling wagyu beef as Kobe - not quite the same breed, not raised the same way, but you (historically) jack the price up and hope people don’t notice. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/85 "2012-06-26T02:34:00Z")
> [@Jamicat](#): > > I tired to get REAL MAPLE Syrup once…every single one was HFC w/ Maple Flavoring. (Irregardless of brand or price) > > I rarely have pancakes or french toast…but > > Is it too hard to have the _real thing_ in the supermarket anymore? > > I think everyone went off the HFC cliff. :rolleyes: I’ve never been to a supermarket that didn’t have it, on either coast. Look for small bottles would be my advice. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/86 "2012-06-26T02:40:25Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > This is why I buy only wild-caught salmon, pasture-raised meats, and get my vegetables from the farmer’s market in season, and organic out of season. > > I also spend a small fortune on food, but it’s worth it. Me, too. There’s a little market on Mondays that’s so close I can see it from my kitchen windows. I am very excited that this summer my favorite family farm for meat will be there every week. They are also carrying ice cream from a local maker - made with real cream, and a coating on your spoon to prove it. I get my eggs from them, too. The Loyola students have a booth of their own with bakery items made that day and lots of greens from their farm in Woodstock. It’s a tiny market but I love it! ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/87 "2012-06-26T02:45:51Z")
> [@Jamicat](#): > > I tired to get REAL MAPLE Syrup once…every single one was HFC w/ Maple Flavoring. (Irregardless of brand or price) > > I rarely have pancakes or french toast…but > > Is it too hard to have the _real thing_ in the supermarket anymore? > > I think everyone went off the HFC cliff. :rolleyes: > > Funny though, how all the Honey say’s, “REAL BEE HONEY” here. > > Not even the cheap stuff says “HFC, flavored with Real Honey”. :dubious: > [@cckerberos](#): > > I’ve never been to a supermarket that didn’t have it, on either coast. > > Look for small bottles would be my advice. The only “real” maple syrup I’ve seen in conventional groceries comes in 12 ounces or smaller bottles or even small screw-top tins. The only places I’ve seen it in larger bottles has been at Whole Foods or the little organic market around the corner from me. I buy those. They’re 32 ounces and run me $20-$25, and I get the Grade B stuff. So good! ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/88 "2012-06-26T02:47:11Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > The only “real” maple syrup I’ve seen in conventional groceries comes in 12 ounces or smaller bottles or even small screw-top tins. The only places I’ve seen it in larger bottles has been at Whole Foods or the little organic market around the corner from me. I buy those. They’re 32 ounces and run me $20-$25, and I get the Grade B stuff. So good! Costco also has big bottles of tasty real maple syrup. I wonder if their olive oil is “real.” ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/89 "2012-06-26T02:56:01Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I don’t understand. Pacific Salmon turn red when they’re ready to spawn. The color comes from their diet. Why aren’t they red all the time? Does their diet change? > > And what’s wrong with cinnamon? Do you mean like the outward coloration of [Sockeye/kokanee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sockeye_salmon)? Spawning affects the skin color. Here, we’re talking about the color of the flesh that is affected by diet, not spawning. I don’t know why the color of the flesh might or might not change, but they usually spawn in fresh water, and thus may have different diets. According to the [Monterey Bay Aquarium](http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx?c=ln), the go-to source for this stuff, the pecking order goes: Alaska wild \> Continental West Coast wild \> Farmed and Atlantic wild They take both environmental friendliness and sustainability/population size/how fast they breed into account. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/90 "2012-06-26T03:01:06Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Do you mean like the outward coloration of [Sockeye/kokanee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sockeye_salmon)? Spawning affects the skin color. Here, we’re talking about the color of the flesh that is affected by diet, not spawning. I don’t know why the color of the flesh might or might not change, but they usually spawn in fresh water, and thus may have different diets. Once salmon enter the river to spawn, they stop feeding. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/91 "2012-06-26T03:16:11Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Once salmon enter the river to spawn, they stop feeding. Heh. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/92 "2012-06-26T03:26:55Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > No, I meant the wild fishermen. They suffer from degradation of wild salmon by farms. Without farmed fish they would not sufer from degradation now would they? OTOH farmers that quit farming would certainly suffer. PS. Its a nitpick for a joke, so let it go or roll with it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/93 "2012-06-26T03:33:29Z")
Even salmon-flavored canned cat food is dyed the appropriate shade of pink. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/94 "2012-06-26T05:24:10Z")
Sent from my LG-P509 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/95 "2012-06-26T05:56:33Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > HIt’s just like the pink slime stuff - . You mean _lean finely textured beef_(LFTB). They never should have gone with the Big Lots off brand name. Half the bottled lemonades on the market should change their name to “lemonade flavored”, or, “loosely based on lemonade”. Some Minute Maid lemonades don’t even include lemon juice in the list of ingredients. Restaurants that have lemonade on the menu should specify whether this is “the real stuff” or yellow vaguely citrusly flavored liquid. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/96 "2012-06-26T09:36:32Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Also, AFAICT, those two types of cantaloupe are are two cultivars of the same plant. Neither is “real.” One of the cultivars was called cantaloupe, available in Europe. Then, vendors started calling every orange fleshed muskmelon a cantaloupe, instead of giving it its own name. Honeydews are muskmelons too. How would you feel if they started calling a new kind of muskmelon “honeydew” even though it’s not really the honeydew you know and love? It’s just sort of similar to a honeydew, so they’ll bank on that marketable name. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/97 "2012-06-26T10:08:26Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > You mean _lean finely textured beef_(LFTB). They never should have gone with the Big Lots off brand name. > > Half the bottled lemonades on the market should change their name to “lemonade flavored”, or, “loosely based on lemonade”. Some Minute Maid lemonades don’t even include lemon juice in the list of ingredients. Restaurants that have lemonade on the menu should specify whether this is “the real stuff” or yellow vaguely citrusly flavored liquid. I recall from years back (no cite but my own failing memory) that the artificial lemonade flavored drink mixes that came out in the '80s (such as Country Time)were based on an insecticide which didn’t pass testing. It didn’t kill enough bugs, but tasted lemon-y and was cheap and non-caloric. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/98 "2012-06-26T10:26:48Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > This is just flat-out false. The artificial color is in the feed, so it cannot be washed off or out. Oh yeah?! Well, I just mushed up some raspberries and pressed them with a paper towel and my paper towel is totally red now! They’re dieing (sic) the berries on my bushes!!! Or, y’know…not. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/99 "2012-06-26T10:44:06Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > Sent from my LG-P509 using Tapatalk Response from my R2-55 Cerebral implant. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/100 "2012-06-26T10:49:40Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Oh yeah?! Well, I just mushed up some raspberries and pressed them with a paper towel and my paper towel is totally red now! They’re dieing (sic) the berries on my bushes!!! > > Or, y’know…not. Sure, but you can wash them in the sink all you like and they’re not going to go white. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229.md?page=6)