Is Eating farm-raised Tilapia Safe?

You might have been advised by many health books to always choose fish over meat because of the optimum levels of cholesterol and fat found in many fish as compared to meat. And the truth is, it really is... most of the time.Fish is a low fat, high protein food that has a range of health benefits. However, given what we know of fish and its sources today, we may have to re-examine this statement.

Fish can either be one of the best foods for you or detrimental to your health depending on where it is sourced. There is a vast difference between  fish caught in the wild, farm-bred or farm-raised fish. The most common farm-raised fish are: salmon, tilapia, sea bass, catfish, and cod.

Why Tilapia?

Tilapia is one of favourite fish world wide. According to the National Fisheries Institute, the mild fish has climbed to become the fourth most eaten seafood in the U.S., behind only shrimp, salmon and canned tuna.
So why would farm-raised tilapia be dangerous to our health? Let's answer this question as objective as possible below...

 Reasons Farm-Raised Tilapia is Dangerous to your Health

1.  Farmed tilapia may contain a significant  amount of cancer causing organic pollutants compared to the wild variety – This can most likely be attributed to the feeds that are used on farm raised fish. If you knew what went into the feeds of farm raised fish you would be horrified. Apparently, chicken feces is one of the main ingredients that go into farm fish feed. Not only that, the transfer of pig and duck waste to fish farms is also a very common practice.
   
    

   

   Tilapia Cage

2.  Farm-bred fish have been found to have high concentrations of antibiotics and pesticides. Farm-bred tilapia are normally raised in cages. An average 2m by 3m by 1.5 m deep cage is normally stocked with about 1000 fingerlings. These fingerlings also reproduce, multiply, and excretory products compound as they grow. The crowded condition make the fish more prone to diseases. To keep them alive, farm owners give antibiotics to the fish to stave off disease. Farm-bred fish are also treated with pesticides to combat sea lice. The pesticides used to treat these fish are so deadly that they have been found to kill wild salmon that are accidentally exposed to them.                                                                                                      
3. Lower levels of Healthy Nutrients                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Many consume fish hoping to reap the Omega-3 fatty acid benefits that come with it. However the Omega-3 acids found in farmed tilapia are less usable to the human body as compared to the wild-caught tilapia. And because farmed-tilapia are raised in cages, they have the tendency to grow fattier (and they do grow fat) which can lead to a high level of Omega-6. Too much Omega-3 and Omega-6 acids have been found to cause inflammation to the body.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
4. Some Tilapia are fed with filth
   Farmed-tilapia aren't necessarily inferior to their wild-caught variety. And there's no guarantee that wild-caught tilapia are a safer fish source as they often ingest a variety of toxins and other pollutants that flow into the water ways. But in China and Taiwan, water pollution and the use of some unauthorised chemicals in Tilapia farming is a concern. (China is the world's largest producer of farm-raised tilapia, supplying about 40% of global production)
   
   One of the issues with tilapia farmed in China is that smaller independent farmers face economic pressures to use human excreta and animal manure rather than more expensive commercial feed for farmed fish, a practice which contaminates water and makes the fish more prone to spreading food-borne diseases.
   

    The Lesson

    These are some dangers linked to eating farm-raised tilapia. This blog '' never intends to paint tilapia as the cause of anything bad. Our goal is to provide consumers with more information about their fish'' as Dr. Floyd Chilton, professor of Physiology and Pharmacology at Wake Forest said. The big lesson here is to know where your tilapia is coming from.