有位在德克萨斯州奥斯汀的女子，据她称是一位肠道健康专家，最近通过一个视频声称她从某超市购买的冷冻养殖三文鱼包装的配料上清楚写着有添加色素 -“Red dye 5”，这是一种已知的致癌化学物质。她表示感到沮丧又震惊。

视频发布后，下面评论区里网友们的看法和评论很快多了起来。

有的人认为，这仅仅意味着三文鱼被喂食了一种名为虾青素的天然抗氧化剂。野生鱼从食物中获取这种物质，养殖鱼则需要它作为补充。它不是染料。野生三文鱼的颜色来自它们吃的食物，而养殖鱼则没有，就像火烈鸟也是因为食物类似而呈现粉红色一样。

但在视频标签中，该女顾客注明她购买的那块三文鱼中含有“Red dye 5”，也称为 Allura Red AC，是一种食用染料，用于许多产品，包括棉花糖、软饮料和樱桃味产品。它也用于化妆品、药物和一些纹身墨水。

Red dye 5含有联苯胺，这是一种已知的致癌物。FDA 认为Red dye 5中的联苯胺含量足够低，不会造成太大风险。然而，一些研究表明，人们从染料中接触到的联苯胺量可能高于安全量。

Red dye 5在美国、加拿大和许多欧盟国家都是合法的，但必须贴上警告标签出售。标签应说明该产品可能引起过敏反应，如支气管哮喘。

根据视频内容，女顾客似乎默认标签上的食用染料就是ed dye 5，但专家指出养殖三文鱼经常使用不同的染料。

根据美国政府的水产养殖管理委员会的说法：“养殖三文鱼的食物中添加了虾青素，因为它们需要这些营养物质，但不能像野生三文鱼那样捕食磷虾和虾。 这是养殖健康三文鱼过程的一部分。 没有前后之分，且养殖过程中没有任何部分要求对三文鱼进行染色。 ”

当然如果顾客不介意多花钱的话，野生三文鱼通常是首选鱼，因为其污染物含量低。

在视频火了之后，该超市有人出来表示： 他们超市的产品不含任何人工色素。相反，我们只使用来自天然产品的颜色，如植物（例如甜菜、β-胡萝卜素、姜黄、胭脂树红和辣椒粉）和矿物质（例如二氧化钛或葡萄糖酸亚铁）。

也有人表示，“要理解添加色素对养殖三文鱼意味着什么，我们必须先解释一下野生三文鱼。野生三文鱼自然地以野外的生物为食。这些生物及其体内天然存在的称为类胡萝卜素的分子为三文鱼提供虾青素，从而使野生三文鱼呈现天然的红色或橙红色。对于养殖三文鱼，它们只提供饲料，因此，它们无法从环境中自然获得相同的类胡萝卜素，因此养殖场必须在饲料中添加虾青素（天然存在于植物和动物中），这样三文鱼的颜色就是你今天看到的橙色。没有这个，三文鱼就会是淡褐色。”

题图来自tiktok@whoisemilypesch，版权属于原作者

English –

Is the Red Color of Salmon Natural Color or Has a Chemical Dye been added?

A female customer in Austin, Texas, who is said to be an intestinal health expert, recently claimed through a video that the ingredients on the packaging of frozen farmed salmon she purchased from a supermarket clearly stated the addition of pigment – “Red dye 5”, a known carcinogenic chemical. She expressed disappointment and shock.

After the video was released, the opinions and comments of netizens in the comment section quickly increased.
Some people believe that this simply means that salmon has been fed a natural antioxidant called astaxanthin. Wild fish obtain this substance from food, while farmed fish require it as a supplement. It’s not a dye. The color of wild salmon comes from the food they eat, while farmed fish do not, just like flamingos appear pink due to similar food.

But in the video tag, the female customer stated that the salmon she purchased contained “Red dye 5”, also known as Allura Red AC, a food dye used in many products, including marshmallows, soft drinks, and cherry flavored products. It is also used in cosmetics, medicine, and some tattoo inks.

Red dye 5 contains benzidine, a known carcinogen. The FDA believes that the content of benzidine in Red dye 5 is low enough to not pose a significant risk. However, some studies suggest that the amount of benzidine people come into contact with from dyes may be higher than the safe level.

Red dye 5 is legal in the United States, Canada, and many EU countries, but must be sold with a warning label. The label should indicate that the product may cause allergic reactions, such as bronchial asthma.

According to the video content, female customers seem to assume that the food dye on the label is ed dye 5, but experts point out that different dyes are often used in salmon farming.

According to the US government’s Aquaculture Management Committee, “Astaxanthin is added to the food of farmed salmon because they require these nutrients, but cannot prey on krill and shrimp like wild salmon. This is part of the process of raising healthy salmon. There is no distinction between before and after, and there is no requirement for salmon to be dyed during the farming process
Of course, if customers don’t mind spending extra money, wild salmon is usually the preferred fish because of its low pollutant content.

After the video became popular, someone from the supermarket came out and said that their products do not contain any artificial colors. On the contrary, we only use colors from natural products such as plants (such as beets, beta carotene, turmeric, carmine, and chili powder) and minerals (such as titanium dioxide or ferrous gluconate).

Some people also say, “To understand what adding pigments means for farmed salmon, we must first explain wild salmon. Wild salmon naturally feed on wild organisms. These organisms and their naturally occurring molecules called carotenoids provide salmon with astaxanthin, making wild salmon appear naturally red or orange red. For farmed salmon, they only provide feed, so they cannot naturally obtain the same carotenoids from the environment. Therefore, farms must add astaxanthin (naturally present in plants and animals) to the feed, so that the color of salmon is the orange color you see today. Without this, salmon would be light brown. ”

picture source tiktok@whoisemilypesch The copyright belongs to the original author

(Reporter: Fei Lu,  Xiuli Zhao，Ranxin Shi, Yu Xu, Edward Dixon – US Chinese Press)