Farmed seafood: Whole Foods Market v. Costco Wholesale

On Sunday, I roasted four pieces of fresh wild sockeye salmon fillet from the Copper River in Alaska in a 400-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes with lime juice, Aleppo red pepper and garden herbs, which were toasted. I bought the fillet at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

On Monday, I had a second piece of the moist, fatty, skin-on salmon straight from the refrigerator, with just a splash of fresh lime juice.

Editor's note: Since I posted this in May 2013, Costco Wholesale has introduced farmed Atlantic salmon raised without antibiotics, sold for a couple of dollars more a pound than the conventional farmed salmon in the same refrigerated case. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

With the arrival of fresh wild sockeye fillets at Costco Wholesale, I no longer have to be tempted by the farmed Atlantic salmon available at my warehouse store year-round.

The wild Alaskan salmon is more expensive, but it is also deeper in color and far tastier than its farmed cousin.

And if I ever buy Atlantic salmon, I'll check for sales at Whole Foods Market, which has the strictest standards for farmed seafood, according to its official Whole Story blog:

Pardon our pride, but we really do have incredibly strong and thorough buying standards for farmed seafood—feel free to compare us to other markets! We are committed to these standards and to implementing them for farmed seafood throughout our stores. Here are a few highlights:

• Our Quality Standards for Aquaculture prohibit the use of antibiotics, added growth hormones and poultry and mammalian by-products in feed.
• We do not carry genetically modified or cloned seafood.
• We partner with farmers who work hard to be the leaders in sustainable aquaculture.
• Our standards require producers to minimize the impacts of fish farming on the environment by protecting sensitive habitats such as mangrove forests and wetlands, monitoring water quality to prevent pollution and sourcing feed ingredients responsibly.
• Our seafood is free from added preservatives such as sodium bisulfite, sodium tri-polyphosphate (STP) and sodium metabisulfite.

Here are specifics about the antibiotic-free farmed salmon sold at Whole Foods:

Our salmon are raised in carefully monitored, low-density pens and tanks without antibiotics, pesticides or added growth hormones. Detailed protocols prevent escape of the salmon into the wild, and harmful and lethal methods are never used on predator birds and marine mammals.

Costco sells the season's first fresh wild salmon at a premium.

Costco's farmed salmon

I found the standards for Costco's farmed Atlantic salmon on its Web  site.

Wild salmon mature in the ocean, growing fat on a diet of shrimp and krill, which give them their distinctive orange-red color.

Costco's farmed salmon, on the other hand eat a far different diet, which includes a coloring agent, as described below:

Atlantic Salmon FAQ's

Please see below for answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the Kirkland Signature Atlantic Salmon.

Q. Where does your farmed salmon come from?

A. We currently purchase our Atlantic boneless skinless salmon fillet from Chile and Canada.  We have purchased from Norway, Scotland, and Ireland in the past.

Q. What do farmed salmon eat?

A. A farmed salmon’s diet contains the following ingredients:  Fish meals (herring, sardines, capelin), plant proteins (soybean meal, canola meal, wheat), fish oils (menhaden, herring or sardine), plant oils (soybean, canola, or corn), vitamins, minerals, carotenoid compound for red/orange color, binder (complex carbohydrates to hold diets together).

*GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) or steroids are never used for growth enhancements.

Q. Are antibiotics or tranquilizers used in salmon farming?

A. Antibiotics are used only under strict supervision of a licensed veterinarian and are subject to the same strict regulations for beef and poultry.  Our salmon farmers do not use tranquilizers.

Q. Do we test our salmon fillets and what do we test for?

A. Yes, we currently have testing in place.  We have the salmon tested at the processing plants in Canada and Chile.  Costco Wholesale also does monthly testing.  We test for pesticides and heavy metals (aluminum, lead, iron, silver, copper, zinc, mercury, titanium, arsenic, and magnesium).  Micro-biological testing is also done (bacteria counts, salmonella, listeria, mold, yeast, and TPC).  After all that, we do the physical testing (net weight, trim specification, color, bones, and skin).

Q. Do salmon farms spread disease?

A. Salmon farmers follow stringent fish health practices where brood-stock and eggs are rigorously tested and the salmon are raised in disease free water.  Records show that the only disease found in farmed salmon are those which occur naturally in the wild salmon population.

Q. What are the benefits to eating salmon?

A. Salmon is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids.  Studies have found that people who eat salmon foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, have a reduced risk of heart disease.

Wild salmon until fall

Costco Wholesale will sell fresh wild salmon through early October, if past years are any guide.

After that, I'll return to eating fresh wild-caught haddock, flounder and cod from Costco.

If I want salmon, I can always buy frozen wild Alaskan fillets from Costco or try Whole Foods' farmed salmon when it is on sale.