Verlasso featured on NYC newschannel, NY1
By Kafi Drexel
From farmed versus wild to sustainable versus unsustainable, experts have many tips to help consumers get their hooks into the best fish selection for one’s diet. NY1’s Health reporter Kafi Drexel filed the following report.
When it comes to picking the right fish, sometimes it can feel more like a big-game competition than a shopping trip.
Fishmongers say a bulk of their time is still spent sorting out conflicting information on a debate that has been going for years. Which is healthier, farmed fish raised commercially in tanks or enclosures or wild-caught fish from natural waters? ”There has just been a lot of negative media that’s focused on the ill effects of farmed salmon,” says Brendan Hayes, the retail director at The Lobster Place in Chelsea. “People make sweeping generalizations based on the entire farmed fish category because of certain things they might read. And the fact of the matter is over the past 10 years there’s been tremendous innovation within the aquaculture industry.” Health experts recommend eating fish like salmon at least twice a week because of heart healthy Omega-3 content, but the verdict is still out whether wild or farmed fish has more nutritional value.
Something to look out for is new subcategories of farm-raised fish. To stay competitive, some companies are creating their own.
The online grocer FreshDirect, which has a warehouse in Long Island City, Queens, is one of the first to sell a new salmon product from fish company Verlasso which is being dubbed “harmoniously raised.” ”‘Harmoniously raised’ salmon is different than traditionally raised salmon because it takes a lot of care into healthy environments, the health and welfare of the fish itself and then the health of the consumer,” says Maggie Moon, RD, a nutritionist at FreshDirect.
Other fish sellers and nutritionists will say it is a smart marketing tool, but the fish, which is supposed to be leaner because of their diet, may be a healthier choice for both consumers and the ecosystem. ”With these ‘harmonious fish,’ they are only feeding off of one pound of fish, whereas regular farmed salmon are feeding off four pounds of feeder fish, and that’s what they are getting their Omega-3s from,” says nutritionist Amie Valpone of TheHealthyApple.com. “So if we think about it the four pounds for feeder fish versus one pound, it’s a heck of a lot better for the environment.”
Original article and accompanying video can be found here.