It turns out that the salmon, which people believe and eat as a superfood, was, in fact, full of color.
Rep. Yoon Jae-gap (Haenam, Wando, Jindo), a member of the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, made this claim through data submitted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
When the US 'Time Magazine' selected salmon as a well-being food, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has been introducing and promoting salmon as a superfood that leads to disease treatment and longevity since 2015.
Salmon imports in 2016 were 27,537 tons, up 54.7% in five years to 42,609 tons.
Rep. Yoon reported that only domestic flounder and roe farmed fish had suffered damage due to a surge in imports of salmon, which is hardly produced in Korea.
Wild-caught salmon has a red flesh due to astaxanthin and canthaxanthin contained in krill, but farm-raised salmon is closer to white.
Farmers are mixing synthetic astaxanthin, a coloring agent extracted from petroleum, into their feed to give them a color similar to that of wild ones.
In addition to color, Norwegian salmon, which is mainly imported from Korea, has omega-3 content of 0.46 (EPA) and 0.70 (DHA), which is only half the level of mackerel and mackerel, unlike the superfood promoted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
Rep. Yoon Jae-gap pointed out that "there is a controversy over the harmful effects of coloring agents, and side effects such as stomach pain and skin discoloration have been reported when overdose." "The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries should stop promoting superfoods."
He also emphasized, "We need to improve the system so that consumers can be informed of the risks associated with the use of coloring agents."
(Photo = Courtesy of Assemblyman Jae-gap Yoon, Yonhap News)