Access to all articles, new health classes, discounts in our store, and more!
Which Fish is Best?
Natural? Wild caught? Organic? Farm raised? Fresh? Low mercury? Sushi? Cooked?
* If your fish looks like the picture above, it's been overcooked, over processed, and may be farmed rather than wild caught.
There is so much contradictory and confusing advice on fish consumption that average consumers may just throw their hands up in the air while at the grocery store and choose whatever is on sale that week.
Don’t be that frustrated consumer. Buyer beware! Be the informed, Price-Pottenger shopper that knows when something is “fishy.”
Did you know that “natural” can mean “farm raised” because “water” is “natural?” … and “farm raised” means the fish can be fed “unnatural” food?
Purchase the freshest fish your store has to offer. Fresh fish does not mean that frozen fish in the cooler that was “just brought in today!” It also does not mean any fish that is not rotten. Ideally, the fresh fish you purchase was never frozen and was caught in-season.
Of course you can freeze your fish when you bring if home. However, we recommend only freezing it once, and when defrosting, defrost only the amount you will cook and use immediately. The fishy smell that is common in the fish section of grocery stores is the result of fish being frozen more than once. Sometimes the fish department will thaw previously frozen fish in the refrigerators and occasionally the fishy smell is the result of poor housekeeping as well! Plan ahead so that when you are ready to consume your fish, you really are eating high-quality fresh fish.
Keep in mind that “wild-caught” does not equal “fresh.” Wild-caught fish can be fresh if it was not frozen before you purchased it. Ideally, you would want to see both words: wild-caught AND fresh. Farm-raised fish comprises much of what is available in the American market today. One might think that would mean less chemicals and toxic metals but, according to PPNF Vice-President David Getoff, CCN, CTN, FAAIM, “farm-raised shrimp is often loaded with chemicals. Farm-raised fish are raised and caught in a controlled environment. Humans choose and limit what these fish eat, while fish in the wild hunt and consume as nature intended.”
Fish raised in a controlled environment eating unnatural food are full of chemicals? Shocking! One might draw a parallel between this and the health of people who eat a diet of processed, unnatural food. Consuming what is not natural to a species is bad for all species!
So, now we know what comprises fresh fish and what a true wild-caught fish is. What about “organic fish?”
Turns out there is no such thing! The diets of wild-caught fish are unknown as they are not controlled so they cannot be certified “organic.” At this time, farm-raised fish fed an unnatural diet cannot be labeled “organic” either. Even if every item they are fed is certified and labeled “organic,” the fish farmers are not permitted to label these fish as such. Don’t be deceived and purchase seafood labeled “organic!” Focus on wild-caught and purchase fresh whenever possible.
It’s helpful to know what type of environment fish matured in, but how do we know which fish are best for us? Isn’t the mercury content of fish a danger to humans?
Fortunately, we have David Getoff’s chart of the mercury contamination in fish and seafood. His recommendations are based on research he pulled from studies on toxic metals and mercury. Mercury measurements are in units of parts per million (ppm). Shark and swordfish contain one of the highest concentrations of mercury with a range of 0.05 to 4.54 ppm.
Some fish David labels as “unknown,”which signifies an unknown amount of mercury since they tested at both a high range and a low range. Tuna is one of these fish unless you can purchase younger, smaller tuna which have not lived long enough to accumulate a large amount of toxins.
Keep in mind that while this list is fairly comprehensive you will want to focus on the fish that is low in mercury and wild-caught, preferably fresh. This could be an opportunity to simplify your grocery shopping rather than complicating it! Don’t forget to bring this guide to the grocery store the next time you go shopping.
For more information on which fish are lowest in mercury, check out David Getoff's 2012 Mercury Chart here.