Carophyll: Because color matters

  

Why does color matter?

          Companies have long utilized colors in order to make their goods appear more appealing to consumers.  Color and design play a significant role in the consumer experience.  In fact, color is the most influential visual cue with respect to inspiring purchases.  The following infographic from KissMetrics, based on “The Effects of Store Environment On Shopping Behaviors” by Shun Yin Lam, details the tremendous impact color has on purchases.

(Source)

            The above graphic clearly demonstrates that consumers value a product’s visual appearance above all other factors when shopping.  The same is true for food products.  Mike Adams from Natural News discusses in this article how color triggers humans’ innate perceptions about the nutritional value of food items.  Humans are wired to view vibrant foods as healthy; the more saturated the color, the better.  By using artificially saturated colors, food manufacturers take advantage of humans’ inherent attraction to colorful food in order to improve sales.

Artificial Food Colorants & Aquaculture

        There is an immense market for artificial food colorants because of the direct relationship between colors and how appetizing a food product appears.  This is particularly true for the aquaculture industry.  According to a 2009 Stanford study, farmed fish account for approximately half of total global fish consumption.

Salmon, particularly Atlantic salmon, is one of the most important fish groups in aquaculture. As much as 95 percent of Atlantic salmon sold in American supermarkets is farm-raised.  Though fish farms have significantly increased the quantity of salmon available for consumption, these farms are not conducive to the development of salmon’s characteristic vibrant pink and orange hue.  The natural color of a farmed salmon’s flesh is significantly less colorful when compared to their wild counterparts.  Typically, the flesh of a farm raised salmon is an unappetizing greyish color. As such, farm-raised salmon must be dyed in order to be marketable to consumers.

Carophyll and the SalmoFan

          Hoffman-La Roche is a pharmaceutical company that produces a range of dyes, which are used in salmon feed in order to alter the color of farm-raised salmon.  The synthetic color consumed by aquaculture fish is called Carophyll.  Carophyll has been used for over 20 years for agricultural products and approximately 10 years in the aquaculture industry.  It has been used in all major aquaculture countries, particularly the United States and the European Union.  Hoffman-La Roche gives salmon farmers the option of selecting the shade of pink they would like included in their salmon food pellets with a color chart called the “SalmoFan.”

The entire process is much like selecting a paint color at a hardware or home supplies store. With color additives, producers of farmed salmon are able to deliver consistently colored salmon, without any of the benefits associated with the naturally occurring pigment in wild salmon.  More information from the manufacturer of Carophyll can be found here.

Wild vs. Farmed Salmon

            Carophyll mimics astaxanthin, a naturally occurring carteroid that gives shrimp, lobster, crab and salmon their bright hue.  Many health experts recommend eating astaxanthin rich foods, or taking astaxanthin supplements because this carteriod acts as a strong antioxidant, which supports good health.  Instead of astaxanthin, canthaxanthin is used to improve salmon's color.  Canthaxanthin is a carteroid that lacks the many benefits of astaxanthin because it is produced synthetically.


The use of Carophyll (and canthaxanthin) is not necessarily harmful, this colorant merely lacks the benefits of naturally occurring astaxanthin.  However, there were some concerns that canthaxanthin can cause retina damage:

"If ingested in sufficient quantity, canthaxanthin can form crystalline deposits on the retina. In the 1990s, driven largely by the use of relatively large oral doses of canthaxanthin in "tanning pills" (taken to give skin a suntanned color without the dangers of sun exposure), the Scientific Committee of Food of the European Union set standards for human canthaxanthin intake. While noting that the effects of canthaxanthin on eyesight were minor, reversible, and "not associated clinically with any significant adverse functional visual defects," the committee established a maximum allowable daily intake (ADI) of 0.03 milligrams of canthaxanthin per kilogram of body weight.  Based on this standard, the committee in January 2003 reduced the maximum allowable portion of canthaxanthin in salmonid feed from 80 ppm to 25 ppm (no such action levels exist for astaxanthin)." (Source)

The restrictions on the acceptable amount of canthaxanthin in salmon feed prevent this potential eye damage, however minimal.


Carophyll has none of the health benefits associated with astaxanthin.  As such, farm-raised salmon are significantly less nutritious when compared to their wild counterparts.  The following infographic details additional differences with respect to nutrition between wild and farmed-raised salmon.

Salmon is often touted for its significant health benefits; unfortunately the vast majority of salmon sold in American markets do not live up to the hype.  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, farmed salmon contains twice the total fat and more than twice the amount of saturated fat compared to wild salmon.  The above table also demonstrates that salmon produced in aquaculture farms are not as rich in healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.  Furthermore, farm raised salmon are generally more calorific and have a higher “bad” (Omega-6) fat percentage.  According to researchers at puresalmon.org, wild “heart healthy” salmon are exceptionally rich in Omega-3 fatty acids while containing less than 1% body fat.  Contrarily, the body fat concentration of farm-raised salmon can be as high as 27%.

            So what can a consumer who wants the health benefits of truly wild salmon do to ensure they are buying the right product? Health expert, Mark Sisson, suggests buying less salmon in general in order to afford more expensive, genuine wild salmon.  He also advocates purchasing canned salmon.  Farmed salmon does not can as well as wild salmon, which means that the bulk of canned salmon is wild.