Farmed Salmon Safe To Eat, Spanish Food Watchdog Says

(January 9, 2004-MADRID, Spain (AP))

The government urged Spaniards Friday to keep eating farmed salmon, despite a scientific study asserting that such fish contain cancer-causing chemicals.

Levels of pollutants found in farmed salmon, such as dioxins and PCBs, are below those deemed by the WHO to pose a health risk, the Food Safety Agency said.

Moreover, the agency runs rigorous tests on Spanish seafood products and fish feed for potentially dangerous substances, it said in a statement.

"The Spanish Food Safety Agency... urges citizens not to modify their salmon-eating habits," the statement said, pointing to the known health benefits of eating fish.

A study published in the U.S. journal Science found that farm-raised salmon contain significantly more dioxins and other potentially cancer-causing pollutants than do salmon caught in the wild.

Salmon farmed in Northern Europe had the most contaminants, followed by North America and Chile, according to the study released Thursday.

Eating more than a meal of farm-raised salmon per month, depending on its country of origin, could slightly increase the risk of getting cancer later in life, according to the study.

Spain produced 300 tons of that fish in 2002 and imported 37,200 tons of both wild and farmed salmon from European Union countries such as Norway and Scotland, said a spokeswoman for the Agriculture Ministry.

The Spanish Confederation of Consumers called for stricter controls by European Union food safety regulators.

"The E.U. has to make sure countries such as Norway, which produce so much of the farmed salmon that we eat, obey the health rules, so that we can be sure that what we eat is safe," said spokesman Antonio Lopez.