# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/161 "2012-06-27T21:31:53Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I haven’t read the thread. I’m just responding to the claim in the article: > > I don’t know what sad, drearly place the writer of that article calls home, but all of the salmon I buy here in the Pacific Northwest is wild-caught. Sure I could buy farmed salmon, I suppose; but why? Well, almost none of the wild caught salmon in the Pacific Northwest has ever “swum a single damn inch upstream” either. Seeing as they’re caught before getting into the stream. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/162 "2012-06-27T22:04:06Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Plus this is about human health. Maggots may be disgusting, but they won’t hurt you if you eat them. They’ve a little dash of extra protein. And if you dip them in chocolate, they’re pretty tasty. Or so I’ve been told. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/163 "2012-06-28T01:38:37Z")
> [@OtisCampbellWasRight](#): > > If you think about it, most veggies are grown in nasty fertilized dirty dirt, so a few critters are going to come along for a ride, and there’s not a lot that can be done about that other than washing, cooking (processing.) A _few?_ You haven’t grown many of your own vegetables, have you? Washing, scrubbing, yelp when one crawls across your wet, soapy hand, washing, cutting the little bastards out with a sharp knife, more scrubbing, _then_ you cook. > [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Plus this is about human health. Maggots may be disgusting, but they won’t hurt you if you eat them. They’ve a little dash of extra protein. Even better, they have vitamin B12. That and things like rodent feces might be the best source of B12 in largely vegetarian cultures and populations. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/164 "2012-06-28T02:19:43Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > The perception that many people have about these government agencies as regulatory ‘watch-dogs’ is not the way it actually works in practice. > > The FDA and Dept of Agriculture work with manufacturers and processors to develop guidelines. The relationship is one of cooperation rather that adversity. Guidelines like GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) are developed and modified as things change. > > In my 30 years in animal feed production I never once had a surprise inspection. The FDA and USDA inpectors were the same person and he always called ahead to make sure I would be on hand for the inspection. “How does next Tueday work for you?” So I would just make sure the plant wasn’t doing anything questionable that day. Making medicated feed today?, nope, just the plain stuff. > > Procedures would be examined and the inspector might have a recomendation to add a step or more documentation. I would then re-write our procedures and he would document the change. He had done his job and could move on, and the manufacturer had cooperated. After several years of this the FDA inspector brought a group of trainees along to look at my feed program as an example of what a good one should look like. > > These governement agencies act to facilitate food and feed production and, in my experience, do not behave like a cop serving a warrant looking for something wrong. > > So if you are of the mindset that ‘Thank God they are looking out for us!’ you would be really disappointed if you understood that the actual practice is to help the industry/manufacturer succeed. > > They are facilitators, and sometimes regulators. Mileage will vary though. I have a friend who works for a State Department of Agriculture, he has ran in his time there both the dairy and the meat lab. Both labs actually had field inspectors who as part of their jobs would take samples of various dairy and meat products from all over the state for analysis. This even included totally finished products (like Breyer’s ice cream right out of the grocer’s shelf) and even soft serve stuff out of Dairy Queen and etc (according to him those self-serve soft serve machines at various buffet restaurants are almost always out of compliance in terms of the bacterial growth on them…Dairy Queen is apparently unusually consistent in its cleanliness.) With meat they tested things like fat content and etc to make sure stuff that was labeled as 75% lean was at least in the same galaxy as that. So while maybe the FDA / USDA doesn’t do a lot, I know in at least one state the state level agency does all kinds of random testing of consumer type products where no one is informed beforehand (and since many of these are wrapped consumer products it’s not like they’re going to a farm and need staff on hand, they’re going to supermarkets and buying them off the shelf.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/165 "2012-06-28T03:02:22Z")
On the one hand, a lot of people have a strangely vehement dislike of pesticides. On the other hand they get upset if there’s a pest in their “organic” food. It’s one or the other. Take it or leave it. I personally have no problem with pesticides, processed food, preservatives, or cow nose in my sausage meat. It tastes okay, it doesn’t kill me, it’s inexpensive, and it allows most\* of the world to be fed efficiently. \*It should be the whole world, but sadly there are still some pockets that are not receiving it ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/166 "2012-06-28T05:53:54Z")
Oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit- If you’ve never had locally grown citrus you know they look HIDEOUS! but taste fine. No serious the thing you will get could vaguely be identified as a citrus fruit, expect warty discolored skin though. Celery- I’ve never seen “USA style” celery except as an import, locally grown is greener and smaller and much more potent in taste. I doubt you’d be able to eat it like they do in the USA, it is cut and used as seasoning. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/167 "2012-06-28T09:19:47Z")
I think I was very fortunate that my first job out of school at 16 was working in a small town butchers and bakers. It had its own abattoir and what an eye opener that was. But the main thing it taught me was to be sceptical of food-shock-horror! stories. Particularly about meat. Sausages? We made them with the offcuts of pork that didn’t fit neatly into rolled joints or hams for curing, No factory-processing there. All good meat but just not aesthetically pleasing, so into the sossies it goes. I spent many a happy afternoon carrying severed bullock heads to the cutting room and removing cheek meat and tongues. All a bit too much for the squeamish amongst us but perfect sense if you want to maximise profit. the tongues were cured and pressed, the cheek meat together with some of the tripe and other head and offal offcuts was ground into dog-meat and sold on. This is all sensible management of resources and respectful to the animal and if anyone has concern about the meat they buy I’d suggest they search out exactly those sort of small, local butchers. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/168 "2012-06-28T10:03:03Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > This is all sensible management of resources and respectful to the animal and if anyone has concern about the meat they buy I’d suggest they search out exactly those sort of small, local butchers. Word. I’ve always found it amusing-in-a-facepalm-way that we mythologize and admire the Native Americans for “using every part of the buffalo” (which they may have, but they didn’t use every part of \*every \*buffalo, but that’s another topic), but when we make sausages or pink slime to use every part of the cow, it’s Disgusting and Wrong. ---
**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 28, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/169 "2012-06-28T12:51:30Z")
There’s a great reason to not eat pink slime - [it makes an inferior burger](http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/pink-slime-taste-test/), producing a patty that is not juicy and has a vaguely “mealy” texture. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/170 "2012-06-28T13:01:08Z")
> [@](#): > > This is all sensible management of resources and respectful to the animal and if anyone has concern about the meat they buy I’d suggest they search out exactly those sort of small, local butchers. [Feast](https://sites.google.com/site/feasthouston/) is not the only restaurant in Houston that prides itself on using all the animal. [Revival Market](http://revivalmarket.com/) makes lovely sausages! And you should have used that lovely cheek meat for\* barbacoa\* tacos… ---
**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 28, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/171 "2012-06-28T13:20:23Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > when we make sausages or pink slime to use every part of the cow, it’s Disgusting and Wrong. I need to weigh in on the pink slime issue. Sausages \> pink slime. Nobody goes to the market to buy pink slime, ever. Nobody picks up a package and hopes to see Lean Finely Textured Beef on the label. Nobody goes to a diner and orders eggs & LFTB patties. LFTB is a way to take dogfood grade trimmings and turn it into a ground beef filler, that conveniently doesn’t need appear as a separate item on the label. The product has to be hidden in other products in order to be salable. Sausages, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/172 "2012-06-28T13:25:17Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Nobody goes to the market to buy pink slime, ever. Nobody picks up a package and hopes to see Lean Finely Textured Beef on the label. No, but lots of people pick up a package and hope to see $2.89/lb on it, rather than $4.89/lb on it. ---
**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 28, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/173 "2012-06-28T13:33:26Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > No, but lots of people pick up a package and hope to see $2.89/lb on it, rather than $4.89/lb on it. Though, since LFTB can only be 15% of ground beef, and isn’t exactly free, it’s really more of a $2.89 vs $3.09 type of deal. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/174 "2012-06-28T13:46:56Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > And you should have used that lovely cheek meat for\* barbacoa\* tacos… Agreed, but that’s a little bit of a tough sell in the north-east of England. They look upon pasta with fear and suspicion.😃 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/175 "2012-06-28T17:48:45Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > If you read the article (and the ones it links to,) you’ll find out honey is one of the [worst offenders.](http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/) > > Basically, most national and store brands can’t be confirmed as even being honey…most likely flavored corn syrup from China with maybe a small amount of real honey in there. > . I read your article, and it’s not at all what it says. It says that a large part of the honey sold in the USA is “ultra-filtered”, a procedure that removes pollen from honey, hence preventing from figuring out where the honey comes from. It mentions at lenght that this would help covering up the import of Chinese honey that might contain heavy metals or antibiotics. But even though it mentions that in some cases honey might be adultered by mixing it with corn syrup, it’s not at all what the article is about or what they were testing. They were testing if honey sold under various brands contained pollen or not. Most don’t. Which only proves that it was “ultra-filtered” honey (according to the author : see below) and untraceable. Not that it contained corn syrup or heavy metals or was from China or whatnot. Finally, I followed a link to a response to this article by a representant of the honey-making industry. He stated that the author was unapropriately using the term “ultra-filtration”, a process according to him rarely used in the USA for honey and resulting in a final product that wasn’t honey nor sold under the name honey. He also said that filtration procedures actually used indeed often removed pollen but that the goal was to improve shelf-life (since impurities including pollen result in a darker honey, or a cloudy honey, or in a honey that will crystalize too quickly, all things that the consumer doesn’t want to buy). ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/176 "2012-06-29T00:01:24Z")
Some wild salmon is white. The White King Salmon, super delicious and considered a real treat. Wild salmons color depends on the species and diet. It can vary quite dramatically. Don’t eat farmed fish. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/177 "2012-06-29T00:20:09Z")
I always thought if they could just get enough white kings, with a good marketing campaign, they could sell it for $50 a pound in the lower 48, absolutely beautiful fish. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/178 "2012-06-29T01:59:37Z")
> [@fifty-six](#): > > Some wild salmon is white. The White King Salmon, super delicious and considered a real treat. > > Wild salmons color depends on the species and diet. It can vary quite dramatically. > > Don’t eat farmed fish. No. I have no problem with “don’t eat farmed _salmon_” but the Monterey Bay Aquariums Seafood watch guide strongly recommends several farmed fish: [http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr\_seafoodwatch/sfw\_recommendations.aspx/](http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx/) ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/179 "2012-06-29T02:05:39Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > I always thought if they could just get enough white kings, with a good marketing campaign, they could sell it for $50 a pound in the lower 48, absolutely beautiful fish. ## I agree. I have no numbers or cites but I believe nearly all of it is consumed up here. ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-learned-that-salmon-is-dyed-disgusting-plus-other-fake-food-travesties-that-horrify-you/626229/180 "2012-06-29T02:15:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > No. I have no problem with “don’t eat farmed _salmon_” but the Monterey Bay Aquariums Seafood watch guide strongly recommends several farmed fish: > [http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr\_seafoodwatch/sfw\_recommendations.aspx/](http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx/) I was maybe a little overzealous. Famed fish is not exactly bad but wild Alaskan Salmon is best. The site you linked to suggests farmed salmon in the avoid category. “Dont eat farmed fish” is among many similar slogans up here. I was just parroting. [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=8) [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=10)