Would you consider a smoked salmon product, made from farmed salmon fed a diet of chemicals and antibiotics, to be “natural” or “All Natural”?

Or is it more likely that the company peddling that product just hopes the word “natural” will hook more buyers?

TAKE ACTION: Tell Ducktrap: Stop falsely claiming that your smoked Atlantic salmon is “All Natural.”

Ducktrap River of Maine sells a number of smoked Atlantic salmon products, including the popular Kendall Brook and Ducktrap Spruce Point brands. 

Both labels are made with industrially farmed fish. Yet both claim, right on the product packaging, to be “All Natural.” 

Ducktrap is owned by Norway-based Mowi, the world’s largest producer of Atlantic salmon products, a company that claims to be “leading the blue revolution,” and says it’s “very proud of producing food that is healthy for people and good for local communities and the planet.” 

But that characterization is at odds with scientists who describe the crowded fish farming methods used by companies like Mowi as “stressful high-density conditions” that far exceed what salmon would experience in the wild.

According to a recent consumer survey, when it comes to label claims, “natural” is the one consumers find the most important. In fact, more than 40 percent of consumers surveyed said “natural” claims influence their grocery store purchases.

An article about the survey reported:

“The survey gave consumers a hypothetical situation, where two products had the same Nutrition Facts panel, but other key differences. They were asked to choose which one would be healthier. And close to half said a product with an ‘all natural’ claim would be healthier than one without.”

Is a smoked salmon product made from farmed fish, known to contain pesticides and antibiotics, really healthier just because the words “All Natural” appear on the package? The evidence suggests otherwise.

Testing on farmed salmon has routinely revealed concerning levels of PCBs and dioxins.

Some farmed salmon have even been found to contain ethoxyquin, a chemical developed by Monsanto and used in the manufacture of tires.

It’s time for Ducktrap to come clean. Smoked salmon made with industrially farmed salmon isn’t “natural,” “All Natural,” or “100% Natural.”

TAKE ACTION: Tell Ducktrap: Stop falsely claiming that your smoked Atlantic salmon is “All Natural.”