"Red" Salmon vs "Pink" Salmon

[Varaile]

My SIL was over recently and we were talking about food and the topic of salmon came up. She said that "red" salmon had higher nutrients and was more healthy than "pink" salmon. I hadn't heard that before, but I was under the impression that color can be misleading due to what ever the fish are eating - especially farm raised.

So, is "red" salmon healthier than "pink" salmon? Where does the mighty BB weigh in? Which fish reigns supreme?

[sneezles]

I did a bit of searching and found this:

Sockeye or red salmon has a higher oil content and are usually harvested in the North Pacific and Arctic oceans, and regions near California. Once cooked, flakes tend to be medium in size and rich in flavor.

Humpback salmon, better known as pink salmon, is the smallest Pacific salmon in North America, and are less oily and milder tasting.

Though I haven't been able to find anything that says one is healthier than the other.

[Hammster]

I did a bit of searching and found this:

Sockeye or red salmon has a higher oil content and are usually harvested in the North Pacific and Arctic oceans, and regions near California. Once cooked, flakes tend to be medium in size and rich in flavor.

Humpback salmon, better known as pink salmon, is the smallest Pacific salmon in North America, and are less oily and milder tasting.

Though I haven't been able to find anything that says one is healthier than the other.

I read the same thing in more than one website. I got the sense that the higher fat content would mean more Omega 3 fatty acids. But, I couldn't find it written down exactly that way. The color of the flesh just seems to have more to do with the species of salmon. But the color of the flesh also indicates that the deeper the color, the more fat.

[sneezles]

Found this page which compares different types of red salmon and I'm beginning to think that pink salmon is only available canned (except for maybe Alaska).

My personal preference is for wild Pacific salmon and I tend to lean towards the redder pieces in the fish mongers case.

[funniegrrl]

Another aspect of this is that farm-raised salmon are considered less healthy for various reasons, and farm-raised salmon is often artificially colored pink. So the idea that pink = less healthy may be a distillation of pink = farm-raised = less healthy.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA400061

[wallycat]

Sockeye and King salmon tend to be darker in color.
Coho and the other varieties tend to be pinker.

From all the research I have done, there is such a small difference (very small) in omega-3 content from the red and pink that one should eat for taste preference (and cost).
The sockeye is more expensive, the pink less so.

Remember that the nutritional analysis will vary from fish to fish because it depends on the water temperature, their diet, health, etc....just like our bodies and the chemistry vary from meal to meal and from season to season

Overall, for those concerned about Omega-3 content in, say, canned pink versus canned red .....it's within 10 or so mg.

[sneezles]

Well, the humpback salmon is a wild pink salmon though it's true that farm-raised are not the same in color as wild. Though color varies greatly wild salmon also. Found this CL article

[Robyn1007]

I find a significant difference in flavor between a wild salmon and a farm raised salmon and really prefer the wild after growing up in Alaska. I've never heard of a humpback salmon though. I've regularly heard of King, Silver (Coho), Sockeye and Chinook types of salmon, at least wild caught in Alaska.

[Varaile]

What folks have mention is what I thought as well, so when the SIL mentioned this I was like "whoa, where did this come from?" And I know that fish from different terroirs (to steal a wine phrase) are going to have different oils and flavor. Like where I live - I like lake trout from Lake of the Woods (big lake in N MN/So Canada) but not from Lake Superior.

It is the nutrients levels that I don't know about.

[lbd]

I find a significant difference in flavor between a wild salmon and a farm raised salmon and really prefer the wild after growing up in Alaska. I've never heard of a humpback salmon though. I've regularly heard of King, Silver (Coho), Sockeye and Chinook types of salmon, at least wild caught in Alaska.

Silver and Coho are the same? Is Silverbrite also the same? I've gotten that from TJ's a few times and we've really liked it, it's labeled wild Alaskan. (and I would call it pink rather than red but I'm not expert)

[wintersummer]

I've always thought that wild salmon was naturally more red in color because the fish have to work harder to swim freely in the ocean, which develops more myoglobin, thus making them redder. I've also understood that is the reason that wild salmon is less fatty - these salmon get a good work-out! Meat that develops with less work (i.e., salmon being farm raised) is "pinker" because they just swim around in ocean pen areas, rather than exert real muscle power to swim the oceans.

Here's something I found in another web site that has another reason for the color of fish: "The pink colored of some fish, such as wild salmon and trout, is due to astaxanthin, a naturally occurring pigment in the crustaceans they eat. Fish such as sharks and tuna has a dark or red flesh because it contains more myoglobin as they are fast swimmers and a migratory fish."

[Robyn1007]

I just looked it up and Silverbrite are the same as Chum which I had forgotten about and, yes, sliver and coho are the same thing.

Oh, and the silvers are frequently the strongest fighters so they're the most fun to fish for!

[ADM]

Many years ago I was researching the power of advertising slogans. I read that sometime in the teens or 20s, a fish cannery was having poor sales of their red salmon and were being consistently outsold by another cannery's popular pink salmon.

They coined the slogan, "Guaranteed not to turn pink in the can!" for their labels and their sales jumped dramatically!

[sneezles]

Many years ago I was researching the power of advertising slogans. I read that sometime in the teens or 20s, a fish cannery was having poor sales of their red salmon and were being consistently outsold by another cannery's popular pink salmon.

They coined the slogan, "Guaranteed not to turn pink in the can!" for their labels and their sales jumped dramatically!

That turned up on a search I did this morning but over at snopes ! All very amusing!

[wallycat]

What folks have mention is what I thought as well, so when the SIL mentioned this I was like "whoa, where did this come from?" And I know that fish from different terroirs (to steal a wine phrase) are going to have different oils and flavor. Like where I live - I like lake trout from Lake of the Woods (big lake in N MN/So Canada) but not from Lake Superior.

It is the nutrients levels that I don't know about.

editing to add...here is a link for that table as it doesn't seem to print out here neatly:
http://www.alaskaseafood.org/flavor/sbg5.htm
scroll to the bottom...

so it sounds like you are not specifically looking for omega-3, which is why most people eat fish.
Perhaps this will help (alaska does not farm, so these are all wild salmon):

VALUES FOR ALASKA SALMON - 3 oz. (85 g) cooked, edible portion
Calories Protein (g) Fat (g) Saturated Fat (g) Sodium (mg) Cholesterol (mg)*
KING (Chinook) 196-200 21-22 11-11.5 3 50-55 70-75
SOCKEYE (Red) 180-190 23-24 9-9.5 1.5 50-55 60-70
COHO (Silver) 157-165 23-24 6-7 1-2 45-55 40-49
CHUM (Keta) 130-135 22-23 4 1 50-55 80-85
PINK 130-131 22 4 .5-1 57-75 55-81

VALUES FOR ALASKA CANNED SALMON - 1/4 cup serving size (63 g approximately)
Calories Protein (g) Fat (g) Saturated Fat (g) Sodium (mg) Cholesterol (mg)*
SOCKEYE (Red) 90-110 13 4-7 1.2-1.5 228-270 27-40
PINK 86-90 12-13 4-5 1 270-346 35-40

*The National Cholesterol Education Program of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) recommends a diet that includes no more than 300 mg of cholesterol per day.

REFERENCE SOURCES:
Release 10 USDA #15210, 1992
Release 10 USDA #15211, 1992
USDA Handbook #8, 1987
Nestlé Foods, April 1994
Sidwell, V.D. 1981 Chemical and Nutritional Composition of Finfishes, Whales, Crustaceans, Mollusks, and their Products.
NOAA Technical Memorandum, NMFS Charleston, U.S. Department of Commerce
Nettleton, J.A. 1983 Seafood Nutrition: Facts, Issues, and Marketing of Nutrition in Fish and Shellfish. Huntington: Osprey Books
Pennington, J. 1989 Food Values of Portions Commonly Used (15th edition). New York: Harper & Row
Exler, J. 1987 Composition of Foods: Finfish and Shellfish Products (Raw, Processed, Per Pound). Washington DC:
Human Nutrition Information Service, USDA Handbook 8-15

[rjbq]

Here is a listing of salmon species and characteristics that was published in one of the Seattle newspapers a couple years ago. I do not remember where they got the information.

Atlantic
Size: averages 10 pounds
Flesh color: deep pink
Region: mostly available farmed, from around the world; wild only available through sport fishing
Season: year-round
Cooking characteristics: Some say farm-raised fish lack the robust flavor and meatiness of wild fish.

Chinook or king
Size: averages 15 to 20 pounds. though they can get to 100 pounds.
Flesh color: off-white (sold as "ivory salmon") to pinkish red
Region: wild from Alaska to Southern California
Season: mid-May until late September; Copper River kings available May and June
Cooking characteristics: superb texture and flavor, but thick fillets can be challenging to grill evenly

Chum, dog, keta
Size: averages 10 pounds
Flesh color: reddish when caught still at sea and feeding; paler when caught during spawning
Region: wild from Oregon to Alaska, also Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea
Season: May through September
Cooking characteristics: Flavor and texture vary widely during life cycle; fish caught while still feeding at sea have best flesh.

Coho or silver
Size: averages 8 to 12 pounds
Flesh color: deep red to 'pinkish orange
Region: wild from northern Alaska to Monterey Bay, Calif.
Season: July through September, with a peak in August
Cooking characteristics: not as rich as chinook, but also with excellent flavor and texture. and smaller, so easier to handle

Pink, humpback
Size: averages 3 to 5 pounds
Flesh color: pale pink
Region: wild, mostly Alaska (representing more than 50 percent of the Alaska salmon catch)
Season: May through September
Cooking characteristics: Mild flavor, lean flesh; often used for canning. May appear as whole fish in the market and will be lower in price than other varieties, but not particularly desirable

Sockeye or red
Size: averages 5 to 12 pounds
Flesh color: bright, deep orange
Region: wild, mostly from Columbia River through British Columbia and Alaska
Season: late May to September
Cooking characteristics: high fat content; often used for canning or smoking, but delicious fresh

Name: steelhead (sometimes called steel head salmon, sometimes steel head trout; genetically related to both)
Size: averages 5 to 9 pounds
Flesh color: red to pink to white
Region: Pacific Northwest
Season: wild available July and August, mostly available through sport fishing, though may occasionally appear in some Pacific Northwest markets; also available farmed
Cooking characteristics: thin fillets, delicate in flavor, more trout-like