Study Finds Restaurants Selling Mislabeled Salmon

The Wild-caught Pacific salmon you are paying a premium price for, may be a mislabeled farm-raised Atlantic salmon.

A group of university environmental students were working on a project using DNA to distinguish species and they decided to look at salmon samples from their local establishments near the university. 

The surprising results showed 38 percent of samples from the Tacoma area restaurants selling wild caught Pacific salmon, were actually selling farm-raised Atlantic Salmon. The group also tested grocery stores and fish markets and only 7 percent of store samples were mislabeled. 

The results will be published in an upcoming issue of a peer-reviewed journal for biology teachers. 

Most consumers can not tell the difference just by looking at the two types of salmon side by side. They ask the server about where the salmon is from, what species and if it is fresh or frozen. They also trust that they are getting the honest answers. 

Wild caught salmon has been shown to have a higher Omega-3 fatty acid than farm raised fish. For more information on the benefits of eating wild caught salmon, see the Environmental Defense Fund's page all about salmon.