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This must be some kind of mistake
(lemmy.nz)
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this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2026
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As stated, it is because they don't eat little crustaceans and krill in the Salmon farms. These critters have Astaxanthin in them (same stuff that makes flamingoes pink).
Astaxanthin is just the pigment that is naturally produced by these animals. It can be synthetically produced using yeast or algae - the synthetic stuff is chemically identical to the naturally-occurring stuff.
I feel like the implication when you see "farmed salmon is grey" is typically "and therefore it is bad/toxic/unhealthy/unnatural, etc". Really, the color just means they just have less naturally occurring astaxanthin in their diet. Astaxanthin is an antioxidant and is good for you - and plays a role in the growth and development of the salmon. However, when it is produced synthetically and added into the fishes' feed to give them color & aid their development, it has the same effect as if it were from krill.
There are problems with salmon farming (environmental and animal welfare issues, though there can also be disease and contaminant issues dependent on farm location/conditions), but the actual meat is not nutritionally very different from wild salmon. It can actually have similar or even higher omega-3 content because farmed salmon are fatter (though their fat is higher in omega-6 and lower in omega-3 than wild-caught salmon).
Wow, both of you taught me some neat stuff! Astaxanthin sounds like it plays multiple roles in the lifecycle of salmon and is one of the most powerful antioxidants as well, so it benefits those of us that eat salmon. It's also the same reason/process that makes flamingos their beautiful color.
Unsurprising. A lot of 'natural' additives are actually worse for you than the synthetic alternative.
The most obvious example I can think of is almond flavouring. The natural variant often contains traces of cyanide, which is not great even in small quantities.
Bit of a tangent, but I think most people would be surprised how many of the plants in their garden are deadly. And because I don't want to give anyone any ideas, usually that death is slow, incredibly painful, and involve you shitting yourself endlessly. Wear gloves and don't burn stuff you don't recognise.
Why would they be surprised? Don't most people know not to eat random unidentified plants?
Although my garden is filled with things that are edible because that is the point of growing them.
Most people think they might get a bit ill or have a bit of stomach issues. Perhaps they know to avoid oleander or foxglove. Most don't realise they'd die a painful and entirely unpreventable death after eating a relatively small amount of leaves or seeds of other common garden plants.
Hell, I was trimming my yew (taxus baccata) a few years ago and even the small amount of needles I accidentally got in my mouth made me quite ill. No antidote, so you'll die a painful and prolonged death.
Then there's the whole hemlock thing, where people confuse it with carrots or parsley. Also no antidote, just a long and painful death.
All too often, you'll see people trimming or burning highly toxic plants or not wearing gloves while dealing with plants which contain toxins which can be absorbed through the skin.
And then there's the people who think wood is wood, and toss whatever on the fire.
I thought yew was more commonly known to be deadly? Though the red berries IIRC are safe, as long as you don't eat the seed which is also deadly.
As far as toxic to touch I don't think I am aware of anything in the UK you are realistically going to come into contact with.
Giant hogweed (related to hemlock, looks a bit like parsley). Looks like normal hogweed, but far more toxic. Won't kill you from touch alone, but not a great idea to handle it without gloves. Found all over the UK.
Variants of hemlock are also abundant in parts of the UK. Quick google turned up a story about it growing near a school. Obviously parents panicked, which is silly because it grows all over the place. Hemlock water dropwort is the super poisonous one, found all over the place but I doubt most people'd realise. Left is hemlock and right is cow parsley:
Obviously the person holding them is touching the hemlock with bare hands, which is a bad idea.
What is bad about touching it bare handed?
Skin irritation, rash, potentially for toxins to be absorbed through the skin, but especially dangerous if you have a small cut or abrasion you may not have noticed. Touching your eyes or nose after handling is also problematic and an easy mistake to make if you've been around plants that easily cause irritation.
All the advice I've ever read says don't touch. Don't know of a grown adult who's ever died doing so, but it's nasty stuff. I googled (duckduckgod?). Eating 6 leaves is enough to kill you, seeds and roots even less.
Here's a bbc countryfile article. The problem with some of these poisons is that it takes a while before you know you've been poisoned and even longer for you to die an unpleasant death.
Luckily it's not as bad as the organometalics. Don't know if you've ever heard of Karen Wetterhan. Chemistry professor who dropped one or two drops of dimethylmercury on her protective gloves. Thought nothing of it. Went through her latex glove, absorbed through her skin within 15 seconds, she didn't notice it happening. Took her 10 months to die of mercury poisoning.
Shit's no joke. I have two relatives who worked in the chemical industry. One has chronic leukemia. The other has Parkinson’s. Environmental exposure is likely to be a factor or have exacerbated things for both of them.
TLDR: wear gloves and protective gear when necessary.
A potential "no stupid questions"-question.
Will I turn pink if I eat enough Astaxanthin? Is it toxic in the amounts that would be necessary?
I think you'd turn orange-ish - more like salmon than flamingo colored. Astaxanthin is a carotenoid like beta-carotene, so you could develop carotenemia/carotenosis which would make you look orange.
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content?contenttypeid=19&contentid=betacarotene#%3A%7E%3Atext=Toxicity%2Cskin+to+become+yellowish+orange.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carotenosis
Salmon is my number 1 food i want scientists to start growing in labs, cheaply and without animal harm.
We are far off still but i am rooting.
It's big carnivorous ocean-dwelling fish for me - like tuna, swordfish, etc - both because many of their fisheries are in very poor health/are destructive to the environment and because of the heavy metals issue.
Cows would probably have a much bigger global impact. Do you have good reasons or just selfishly because you think they taste better?
They did say "my number 1". I think it's okay to have hypothetical desires that don't fully align with what's best for the world, especially since wanting salmon to be grown in the lab doesn't mean they don't want lab beef.
I mean i gladly take lab grown beef, it would indeed be great for the climate. Any lab grown meat is positive.
But yeah i do selfishly just want to eat more salmon more often because currently sashimi grade salmon is just too expensive for my budget.
This was a weird time to go 0-100.
I don't know if it's placebo, but I think I notice a difference in flavor between wild-caught and farm-raised salmon. I guess it's like beef from cows that are raised with care versus beef from those that aren't?
Oh there's definitely a taste difference - mainly because of diet. Farm-raised salmon eat feed made of various grain-starches, oils, and fish meal supplemented by vitamins and minerals while salmon in the wild eat a much different diet. But nutritionally there isn't a substantial difference.
As an aside, the salmon fisheries in North America are some of the best-managed and most sustainable in the world. So if you can afford it, then wild caught salmon is a great choice.