9 Nasty Truths About Your Favorite Foods
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Photo: Mr. T in DC, Flickr
You've seen the "dirty dozen" list for produce -- fruits and vegetables that are laden with pesticides, making it worth the cost of buying organic. But did you know there's also a dirty dozen list for fish? Food & Water Watch -- a non-profit group that works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced -- publishes an annual "do not eat" list.
Why is it noteworthy? As Barry Estabrook, writer at The Atlantic, explains in a recent article, "Seafood guides tend to focus either on species that should be avoided for reasons related to environmental health (overfishing) or species that should be avoided for reasons related to human health (their flesh is contaminated with chemicals). Food and Water Watch publishes a useful guide that takes both concerns into account."
The below fish fail at least two of their criteria for safe and sustainable seafood. The five criteria are: contaminants; status of the stock; catch method or farming method; economic/social/cultural significance (a community predominantly fishes for this species and depends on it); and key species (it's a primary food source for other wildlife or does it create critical habitat for other wildlife).
• Imported catfish
• Caviar from wild-caught sturgeon
• Atlantic cod
• American eel
• Atlantic flounder, sole, and halibut
• Imported king crab
• Imported shrimp
• Farmed salmon
• Chilean seabass
• Shark
• Atlantic bluefin tuna
The good news? Food & Water Watch offers a downloadable wallet-size guide to "smart" seafood, and also has resources on the site to help you find sustainable alternatives based on your fish tastes (mild, thick and flavorful, etc.).
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9-13-2010 @11:40AM tunadude said... Just another BS article attacking the seafood industry! The industry is under enough pressure right now and does not need any more paranoid, PETA loving, greenie, sitting behind a desk with no "proof" to stir up more problems. I do love how the Asian population can smoke 2 packs a day, drink green tea and eat FISH all the time, and still live to be older than most Americans! There is no mercury poisoning in them, no birth defects, no loss of child birth. I have been in the industry my whole life, and my wife and I have eaten seafood even during her pregnancy. We have 2 beautiful and HEALTHY boys to show for it, (with all their toes and fingers and no defects). STOP WITH THIS BAD PRESS! THIS IS UNHEALTHY!
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9-13-2010 @11:56AM PRUSH said... AMEN!
9-13-2010 @11:32AM jake said... Thank God I don't eat fish to all U fish eater's it's not getting any better.
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9-13-2010 @11:46AM penguin said... The list is bogus because they gave the type of seafood and not the criteria why they are considered dirty.
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9-13-2010 @11:59AM pd39 said... STOP EATING FISH, STOP EATING MEAT!!
You are ANIMALS!!!
You MUST learn to live on grass and weeds!
Because I don't like fish and meat, you MUST do what I say!
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9-13-2010 @12:01PM mom2adam1 said... Dirty fish, produce with Ecoli, recalled eggs from salmonella, recalled milk. Am I missing anything? What is safe to eat anymore? I just take my chances.
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9-13-2010 @12:03PM vixen said... Sorry folks, but spelling and grammar do matter, a lot. Bad spelling is a very good indication of a poor intellect, disordered mind, and inattention to detail. Why would you want to list to opinions held by such a mind? Intention to detail doesn't matter? Tell that to your surgeon, the next time you need an operation.
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9-13-2010 @12:12PM Andy said... Gotta also comment on the bullcrap that is considered organic foods. Organic food still use pesticides the difference is they are non-synthetic and non-artificial pesticides meaning you are still getting them in your food but they are the same archaic ones that people have been using for centuries.
Did you know if the world switched to organic foods then a third of the world would starve. Thats right organic farming methods do not produce enough food to sustain the earth. On top of this when you buy organic you are taking revenue and jobs away from the lower class and even to a greater extent 3rd world countries where their largest exports are pesticides and manure. Yup Organic farming requires municipal manure because chemically altered manures are not allowed. So feel better that you didn't buy into the scam and do yourself a favor buy what tastes good and not what you think will decide your moral being fiber etc
In essence eat what tastes good not what some commercial tells you otherwise...
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9-13-2010 @3:30PM marc said...
You're a funny guy there, Andy. Most of the world grows organic because they can't afford these expensive chemicals. They are not cheap at all, it's easier to use traditional methods. And those organic pesticides are vinegar, yeah that's way worse for you. Eat a salad lately? Or the other is nicotine, yes from tobacco. It kills bugs like crazy, that's why you should stay away from it. Or use it like the native americans did, once a month in a long holder or a rolled cigar. Not in a cigarette where you suck the smoke down. If I were a farmer I would definitely grow food that way because people would pay more for it and it's worth it. Also did you know in places where they use pesticides the most they have the highest cancer rates? Yes, I know using manure you have to be careful because it could result in salmonella, but I hate to tell you most food from Mexico and South American has it. According to what I hear they sneak it in with "USA" produce as it comes out of Southern CA. With our wonderful Nafta it may even be legal, since I know now Electrolux is making appliances in Mexico and calls them made in USA. So don't be a shill for Roundup, it sucks. The bugs are also getting a big resistance to it now, you know why Monsanto is making genetically modified seeds? Not to make them increase the crops, not to make it more nutrious but so when they spray load of roundup on the plants they don't die. Yes, the "healthy" pesticides kill the plants if you use too much. And right now the bugs can handle quite a bit of it.
MARC
9-13-2010 @12:30PM charles wallace said... I can smell the red meat cooking now! This is a pro fast food article!
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9-28-2010 @11:30PM KK said... I eat Swai. Does anyone know anything about that fish? I'm not sure where it's from.
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9-13-2010 @1:09PM Kaci said... I've been reading for years that farmed salmon is high in mercury and PCB's and sharks live a reasonably long life and have more time to absorb mercury so their meat is not safe to eat. None of this information is new. Did everyone here posting comments just get internet access?
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9-13-2010 @1:32PM RITA said... EAST COAST FISH ISNT EVEN EDIBLE,. YUCCK,. GETTING SICK THINKING OF IT,. WEST COAST PACIFIC OCEAN FISH IS ONLY GOOD FISH AROUND, EAST COAST IS TOO DIRTY.SOUTH IS FILTHY, WEST COAST WASHINGTON STATE FISH. IF IT ISNT WEST COAST PACIFIC CAUGHT FISH ITS JUST BAIT. WHO WOULD EAT BAIT. I D GO HUNGRY BEFORE I WOULD EAT ATLANTIC COD,. AMERICAN EEL. I D HAVE EEL SKIN BOOTS MADE BUT WOULDNT EVEN FEED IT TO MY DOG.
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9-13-2010 @2:30PM clark williams said... Swordfish should be an the bad list. I've been in the seafood business for 30 years. I have to use needle nose pliers to pull out worms after I cut the fish into steaks. It's also high in mercury.
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9-13-2010 @1:43PM Urmomma said... Idiots. Shrimp and crab are not fish.
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9-13-2010 @3:43PM marc said...
That's very true, Kaci. Also did you know they have to feed it a chemical because it would look gray? The red color normally comes from it's meat diet, they feed them grain. So the meat is gray in color which noone would buy, so they use a chemical to make it red in color. It's actually impractical to raise salmon in a farm, because of so much meat it eats. They had to chase the "farms" out of a few waterways because since they stuff them into huge nets like sardines they get fleas. The older fish can survive those, but the young "real" ones coming down into the ocean are getting infected. So there won't be any more wild caught salmon, I heard Canada told them to move it. Ideally let them put huge tanks on land and raise them that way. So they're not interferring with the wild ones at all, and that's also why they have more mercury. They are recycling the water, also we need to stop building more coal fired plants. I'm directing that at China and India since they are the ones building one a week over there, with no polution controls. That's where the mercury is coming from in the oceans, it comes down with the rain. Either on land that drains into the ocean or directly from storms. They need to stay in the stone age with bicycles because if they live like americans with their populations they will destroy the environment. The world can't support this many people.
MARC
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