salmon:pink or red? And other fishie questions

1749 Views 11 Replies 5 Participants Last post by malluver1005, Dec 3, 2009

CorgiPaws

Discussion Starter · Dec 2, 2009

I'm back with what I'm sure is another stupid question. I went to buy canned fish (whole fish isn't in the budget today.) for griss and saw that there were two different kinds of salmon. Do I want red or pink? I couldn't figure out the difference, so i bought mackeral for this week and sardines for next.i've been introducing one protien source each week after the first two weeks of chicken, and have had great results. Do i need to take it this slow with fish? Or is fish just fish? Also, i'm boarding him for the wedding in two weeks and thought it would just be easier to send him to the kennel with canned fish, but would 4 meals in a row (sat dinner, 2 meals sunday, monday breakfast) of fish be too much or mess him up in any way? We're driving into las vegas and dropping him off before even going home, then getting ready for a reception right after, so cans just seem easier. Me, jon, champ, griss, and annie on a road trip in a honda civic. Yikes.

Save

1 - 12 of 12 Posts

SuZQuzie

· #2 · Dec 2, 2009 (Edited)

CorgiPaws said:
I'm back with what I'm sure is another stupid question. I went to buy canned fish (whole fish isn't in the budget today.) for griss and saw that there were two different kinds of salmon. Do I want red or pink?

Generally "red" salmon is wild caught while "pink" salmon is farm-raised. Usually farm-raised is higher in omega 3's since the farmers try to boost it with a diet higher in omega-3s than is available to wild salmon.

And just for thoroughness, I'll through in a short article from the vet school at WSU on salmon poisoning disease.

I couldn't figure out the difference, so i bought mackeral for this week and sardines for next.i've been introducing one protien source each week after the first two weeks of chicken, and have had great results. Do i need to take it this slow with fish? Or is fish just fish? Also, i'm boarding him for the wedding in two weeks and thought it would just be easier to send him to the kennel with canned fish, but would 4 meals in a row (sat dinner, 2 meals sunday, monday breakfast) of fish be too much or mess him up in any way? We're driving into las vegas and dropping him off before even going home, then getting ready for a reception right after, so cans just seem easier. Me, jon, champ, griss, and annie on a road trip in a honda civic. Yikes.

I never fed fish when I was raw, so I can't say much, but good luck on that car trip!

Some more fishy information that I wrote on another thread. Call me lazy.

SuZQuzie said:
I saw, malluver, that you mentioned feeding vegetables with fish. While this isn't true for all fish, many fish contain thiaminase, an enzyme that breaks down thiamine or vitamin B1. A diet with enough thiaminase-containing fish in it can result in B1 deficiency; one of the early warning signs of this is fatigue. Instead of brocolli, I would suggest you feed peas with the fish. They are a great source of vitamin B1 to balance out the thiaminase.

While this site is for turtles, it does state which fish do and do not contain thiaminase.

Save

rannmiller

· #3 · Dec 2, 2009

I think I generally get pink salmon because it's cheaper.

All fish is not created equal, some are higher in omegas than others, for example salmon, mackerel, and sardines are much higher in it than catfish or tilapia. Go figure since those the cheapest ones to get whole and raw!

And I'm about 400% sure you don't have to worry about salmon poisoning in cooked/canned salmon.

I'm not so sure about feeding fish for 4 meals in a row, but if I were you and planning something like that, I'd work on getting him used to it right now! Maybe do two fish meals this week, then three next week, so that hopefully by the next week, four won't be as hard on his system. Luckily, fish has bones in it so that should help with the diarrhea thing. But if you can give them a small pack of chicken drumsticks or wings to get him through it, I think that would be a bit more ideal.

Good luck with everything!

Save

JayJayisme

· #4 · Dec 2, 2009

SuZQuzie said:
Generally "red" salmon is wild caught while "pink" salmon is farm-raised. Usually farm-raised is higher in omega 3's since the farmers try to boost it with a diet higher in omega-3s than is available to wild salmon.

There is still controversy about whether farm raised salmon has more omega 3's than wild salmon.

Factory Farmed vs Wild Salmon | Mark's Daily Apple

Save

JayJayisme

· #5 · Dec 2, 2009

Also, you can't necessarily discern farm from wild salmon by the color of the flesh. Wild salmon gets its pink meat color from a diet of krill and shrimp. Farm salmon meat is artificially colored with dye added to their food. The amount of dye in their diet can increase or decrease the intensity of the red color of the meat. Also, different species of wild salmon have different colored meat. For instance Atlantic, Pink (Humpback), and Coho salmon are generally more on the pink side where Sockeye and King salmon are generally more red. Other factors include location and/or time of harvest and sexual maturity.

Regardless, for a dog, all of them will likely provide the benefits you seek.

Save

malluver1005

· #6 · Dec 2, 2009

Where I buy salmon, all of it is farm raised with color added. Is this safe that it has added color to it?

Save

SuZQuzie

· #7 · Dec 2, 2009

JayJayisme said:
Also, you can't necessarily discern farm from wild salmon by the color of the flesh. Wild salmon gets its pink meat color from a diet of krill and shrimp. Farm salmon meat is artificially colored with dye added to their food. The amount of dye in their diet can increase or decrease the intensity of the red color of the meat. Also, different species of wild salmon have different colored meat. For instance Atlantic, Pink (Humpback), and Coho salmon are generally more on the pink side where Sockeye and King salmon are generally more red. Other factors include location and/or time of harvest and sexual maturity.

Regardless, for a dog, all of them will likely provide the benefits you seek.

You're right, color does depend on the species. But, since the lighter varieties are usually less available,

JayJayisme said:
There is still controversy about whether farm raised salmon has more omega 3's than wild salmon.

Factory Farmed vs Wild Salmon | Mark's Daily Apple

"Mark" seems like a great guy, but he also seems to be more of a nutritional fad follower than anything else based on his other popular articles and lack of any scientific publications. While he may very well be correct, I would like to see more on the subject before nodding my head in agreement.

rannmiller said:
And I'm about 400% sure you don't have to worry about salmon poisoning in cooked/canned salmon.

You're right. :smile: But given that this is in the "Raw feeding" portion of the forum, might as well include it.

malluver1005 said:
Where I buy salmon, all of it is farm raised with color added. Is this safe that it has added color to it?

Food coloring is 100% safe and so is salmon with food coloring added. Is it desirable? No. But appearance has such a huge impact on the perception of quality, that it is added simply to get it to look like salmon. Who would buy salmon that color of halibut? Some people would, sure, but so many wouldn't just because it didn't LOOK like salmon even though it was 100% salmon.

Save

Reactions: 1

malluver1005

· #8 · Dec 3, 2009

I would buy salmon if it looked like halibut...salmon is salmon. :wink:

Save

rannmiller

· #9 · Dec 3, 2009

I agree! I hate artificial colors in food.

I've actually heard that red 40 (I think it's 40, anyway) is linked to ADD, cancer, and male sterility. I just try to avoid artificial colors as much as I can, but it can get hard since it's in so many things.

the whole adding color to make salmon look like salmon is like the ear cropping debate, you shouldnt have to change something to make it look like it's supposed to since clearly it's supposed to look like how it is, not how it isnt!

Save

malluver1005

· #10 · Dec 3, 2009

rannmiller said:
I agree! I hate artificial colors in food.

I've actually heard that red 40 (I think it's 40, anyway) is linked to ADD, cancer, and male sterility. I just try to avoid artificial colors as much as I can, but it can get hard since it's in so many things.

I always thought there was something fishy about the coloring...!

the whole adding color to make salmon look like salmon is like the ear cropping debate, you shouldnt have to change something to make it look like it's supposed to since clearly it's supposed to look like how it is, not how it isnt!

I always thought there was something fishy about the coloring...!

Where I live, I have no choice but to buy salmon with coloring. I've looked forever for natural colored salmon. They do sell frozen salmon fillet though in 5 lb. packages. Maybe I'll take a look at it. It doesn't look like it's colored. Or is it just because it frozen...?

Save

JayJayisme

· #11 · Dec 3, 2009

Farm raised salmon should state (by law now I believe) that coloring has been added. I know in California all packaging, store signage, and advertising is supposed to say "farm raised - coloring added".

Wild salmon is usually marketed as such because it's a relatively rare commodity. BTW, most canned salmon is wild.

On added color, the problem with making broad statements about the safety of the coloring is that you have no way of knowing what type of coloring was used by the farm. Some feed additives are derived from natural sources (such as from krill and other types of shrimp) and some are completely synthetic. You have no way to know what you are buying.

The fish farming industry is like the wild west and is virtually unregulated, especially in the areas that concern the quality and safety of the finished product. The bottom line is that this industry is in its infancy and nobody really knows what the long-term effects these aquaculture businesses will have on the environment, the wild fisheries, or humans.

Farm raised salmon may be safe, it may not. Who knows? One thing is for sure, it is big business and wherever there is big business, regulations will be challenged and loopholes found so shortcuts can be taken to maximize profits. Those shortcuts may eventually prove to be harmful to our world but for now, nobody really knows. I'd say the fish farming industry is not unlike the dog food industry. It's relatively new, fairly unregulated, and probably pretty evil for the most part. And I'm a staunch conservative capitalist! I just don't trust big business when it comes to my food or health, or that of my dogs. :wink:

See less See more

Save

Reactions: 2

malluver1005

· #12 · Dec 3, 2009

Well, just got back from the store. I found some natural colored salmon. It is like the color of halibut...:wink:

Save

1 - 12 of 12 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month