There are major problems with the food industry today. Chicken and beef processing have become notorious for bad practices. But fish processing, whether farmed or “wild”, takes the cake. Fish are sprayed with so many chemicals that consuming fish is far more hazardous to your health than consuming chicken or beef.
FISH ARE SPRAYED WITH CHEMICALS AFTER DEATH
Chemicals are sprayed on fish after death
In a previous article, I described the terrible conditions of fish farms, where fish are exposed to dangerous herbicides to kill algae in the water, fed SLICE chemicals to kill sea lice, and given huge amounts antibiotics all while suffocating in their own fecal matter.
“Wild Caught” fish are no better. They are Kept in overly crowded pens in the ocean, these fish suffer similar fates to their farmed brethren. The ocean pens are full of sea lice and waste. Our oceans are also heavily contaminated with mercury, plastics, PCBs, chemical waste and dioxins. Wild Fish are exposed to these toxins every day and store them in their fat cells. Wild caught salmon and tuna are major sources of methyl mercury in our diet. Additionally, The Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) which causes heart disease in fish has spread rapidly throughout both farmed and wild salmon populations. Many of these fish can barely swim.
However, it doesn’t end there. In fact, that’s just the beginning of the chemicals and toxins that enter the fish before they reach supermarket shelves.
Due to the high water and fat content in fish, fish naturally rot very fast. Visit a fishing boat dock and you will observe just how quickly fish rot. Fish change color very quickly after death. Beef and chicken on the other hand, take longer to rot, because naturally they have glycogen from which lactic acid can be produced for preservation. Its high water content is a reason for its quick spoilage because microbes thrive well where there is high moisture. Its high content of oil which is prone to rancidity is also a factor that makes it susceptible to quick spoilage.
CHEMICALS USED IN THE PROCESSING OF FISH OR THAT ARE FOUND IN LOWER THAN 1% DO NOT HAVE TO BE LISTED ON THE LABEL
Sodium Tripolyphosphate (STPP) Chemical Sprayed on Fish After Death
We spoke about how quickly fish change color after death. To retain the fresh pink or red color of fish, fish are sprayed with a variety of chemicals, such as Sodium tripolyphosphate.
Sodium tripolyphosphate is a chemical that is used to retain moisture.
Some producers use sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) to make fish appear firmer, smoother and glossier—and makes older fish appear fresher than it really is. It’s commonly used on salmon, scallops, shrimp and flaky filet-type fish such as flounder. It also makes the fish heavier when it is weighed (which increases the cost) and may be a neurotoxin. STPP is not required to be listed on packaging.
Sodium is also used to add weight to the product. The overall effect, says Wegmans’ Steve Philips, is that it adds weight to the frozen product that is then leached out during cooking: “It adds weight and increases cost to the consumer, and decreases the customer experience.”
Carbon Monoxide Sprayed on Fish After Death
Fish can also be sprayed with carbon monoxide to enhance the color, kill parasites and give it that “just caught” look.
Not many people are aware, but imported, frozen Tilapia is often treated with carbon monoxide (CO). Salmon is also gassed with CO to give it that fresh pink color. This process is sneaky as it can help the fish look fresher for longer by delaying the oxidization of the meat, which is what causes fish to turn brown as it spoils.
BUYERS of fresh tuna, whether at the sushi bar or the supermarket, often look for cherry-red flesh to tell them that the fish is top-quality.
But it has become increasingly likely that the fish is bright red because it has been sprayed with carbon monoxide.
Tuna quickly turns an unappetizing brown (or chocolate, as it is called in the industry), whether it is fresh or conventionally frozen and thawed.
Carbon monoxide prevents the flesh from discoloring. It can even turn chocolate tuna red.
People in the seafood industry estimate that 25 million pounds of treated tuna, about 30 percent of total tuna imports, were brought into the United States last year. Retailers in the United States buy it already treated.
The Food and Drug Administration says the process is harmless. But Japan, Canada and the countries of the European Union have banned the practice because of fears that it could be used to mask spoiled fish.
If fish is still pink the consumer assumes its fresh, when in reality you're eating spoiled fish.
Chlorine & Ammonia Sprayed on Fish
Chlorine dioxide is often used to treat marine fish, its mixed with water and ice to preserve fish during sizing.
The most common forms of chlorine used in the aquaculture industry include calciumhypochlorite and sodium hypochlorite.
Simiklar to chicken, fish are soaked in bleach to disinifect them.
Ammonia is also used as a disinfectant.
CHEMICALS USED IN THE PROCESSING OF FISH OR THAT ARE FOUND IN LOWER THAN 1% DO NOT HAVE TO BE LISTED ON THE LABEL.
What is Causing the Fish Addiction? Is it MSG?
I have tried to discover what makes people so addicted to fish. And I uncovered more than I bargained for. Aside from the chemicals sprayed on fish to preserve them, Fish are also sprayed and cooked with flavor enhancers like MSG. So processers can easily get away with selling old, rotten, or unsavory fish, by masking these terrible flavors with so called “natural” flavors, that actually cause addiction and are neurotoxic.
MSG overstimulates our nervous system — exciting our nerves and causing an inflammatory response. With time, these repetitive inflammatory responses cause our nerves to start producing more and more nerve cells that are sensitive to this kind of stimulation.
MSG has been implicated in dementia and alzheimers, auto-immune diseases, brain fog, learning disorders, obesity, fatigue, and more.